


What Now?

by buffylover



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Sex, Angst, F/M, Infidelity, Knotting, Lots of Angst, M/M, Slow Build, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-11
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-01-19 00:24:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1448515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buffylover/pseuds/buffylover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek tries to be a good alpha. but helping erica and isaac through their heats is something stiles never thought he'd have to sign up for. but when something goes wrong. everything goes wrong. </p><p> </p><p>or, How Derek Hale had everything he wanted and made all the wrong choices</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Thin Wall](https://archiveofourown.org/works/663513) by [Tassos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tassos/pseuds/Tassos). 



> I loved the idea of Derek having to help the wolves through heats and what that would mean for his and Stiles' relationship.

Stiles wasn't an idiot. In fact, even without his adderall he still tested in the genius range. He knew going into his relationship with Derek there were going to be growing pains and odd behaviours he was just going to have to become used to. Derek scent marking him when he hadn't seen him in a while. Sure, he was fine with that. The love bites and shallow scratches Derek likes to mark him with? Again a little thing he was very ok with. His life becoming like an episode of Buffy where he was a cross between Willow and Giles with the research and strategy? He was more then ok with that. In fact he was kinda awesome at that. Who knew it was his calling?

Knowing that his mate, his alpha had turned a bunch of hormonal teens who grew into hormonal young adults who when their inner wolves matured, would go into regular heats that he would have to fuck and breed them through? That was something that Stiles was trying to come to terms with.

Intellectually he knew that an unmated Alpha gave off pheromones that triggered heats in unmated female betas and unmated male omegas. That was Isaac and Erica. He knew they started the year he went to college. He went to UC Davis an hour from Beacon Hills. It was in the territory of the Jarik Pack, who had been long allies with the Hales. So his going there was a good thing, the Jarik Alpha Emily had even been one of his professors. He had bonded with her daughter in some of his classes, it brought their packs closer together. Derek had told him he was so proud of Stiles, even without thinking about it, he worked to better their pack. That same night Derek had started their mating bond, he had knotted Stiles, telling him he loved him. Stiles had cried, partly cause being knotted hurt but mostly because he started to feel how much Derek loved him through that bond. He knew from reading that it would take a while to cement the bond, Derek would have to knot him over a long period of time and eventually give him a mating bite. But Derek wanted to go slow, once they cemented the bond, there was no going back. It was forever. Stiles was even ok with going slow. 

Sadly their bonding hadn't lessened the heats of Isaac or Erica much. Lucky for him right as he was moving into Derek's, their, house, Scott and Allison had finally given into the weird sexual tension between the three of them and both mated to him. They didn't see them for three days. When they all walked in on the fourth they looks happy as can been. And tired. Over breakfast Isaac pulled him aside and told him “I'm glad you didn't have to be here for one of my heats. I didn't want to make you feel bad.” And that is why he thought of Isaac as a puppy.   
“So it was enough to have them work you through the heat?” he asks. Isaac for some reason turns bright red and Scott rushes over to the conversation.   
“Yeah, it was enough.” Scott is a terrible liar. He can totally tell Scott's lying. Then he notices, they all have high collared shirts on. He reaches out and pulls it down a little.   
“Oh my god. You all have mate bites!” Ok, maybe he shouldn't have yelled that out. The trio looks down embarrassed.   
“Well. We've all been wanting this since high school. So we went for it. And we are all really happy. Isaac's heat was perfect.” Scott and Allison both lean in and nuzzle at Issac's neck. Isaac looks more relaxed then he has in a long time.   
“Ok, I won't make fun of you for moving so fast. Love you all. I have to get to my first day of work. Derek, I love you and I'll see you for dinner.” He waves at Derek as he grabs his bag and heads for his jeep. After graduating in only three years. He missed the pack, so sue him. He had double majored in communications and environmental studies. He had gotten a job as an assistant city planner. He was super happy he had been able to get a job, he didn't want to have to live off Derek. He was loaded from family money and large insurance pay outs from the fire. It was a good job with health care. So he was happy.   
After a couple minutes in the jeep a horrible thought pops into his head. What was wrong with Erica and Boyd's mate bond that makes her heats so intense that Derek has to still help her thought them? And he know, really know that eventually her body will finally adjust and she'll get pregnant from the heats. And that Stiles will have to make some choices. He's not sure what he'll choose yet, but he know, deep down that as long as Derek helps her though the heats there is a major chance of Derek getting her pregnant. And then Stiles will have to see how selfless he is or if he has a breaking point.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took me this long to update. Life has been busy but I swear I'm still working on all of my stories.  
> For this fic i've decided that I'm going to do time jumps. So each chapter will be set a month or more after the previous chapter.

Stiles stretched at his desk. He was going over zoning permits for a new subdivision of homes. It was a huge project. Glancing at the clock on the wall he smiled. Fifteen minutes to 5 on a Friday. He shared a smile with a couple of his coworkers. They were going out tonight after work. Just dinner and drinks, but it was the first time his coworkers were officially meeting Derek. They had gotten head nods and hellos but that was always in passing. Stiles had been at this job for almost three months now and he had informed Derek they were hanging out with his coworker tonight. His grumpy mate had kissed him and told him ok, mentioning that they had time since Erica's next heat was supposed to hit in a couple days so they could have the weekend to hang out. Stiles had rolled his eyes when Derek had turns his back, he hated having to plan his life around Erica's heat. Derek had sounded proud that he was taking care of his pack so Stiles kept silent. 

Shaking himself out of the unpleasant thought he leaned back so Kris could see he was free to talk. “You ready for the weekend, Stiles?”

“I am. No plans. Just some good alone time with Derek. We've been doing so many things with others lately that we haven't really gotten to just be with each other.” He knows Kris knows what he means. Her husband works out of town most of the year so he comes into town as much as he can, but Stiles knows it must be hard. He doesn't get enough Derek time with all the issues the pack faces all the time, don't get him wrong he loves the pack. He loves his place as Derek's mate, it's just he wishes sometimes they had more alone time without worrying about neighboring packs or hunters. Not that hunters had been that big an issue lately, having an Argent matriarch in training in the pack made most other hunters stay away. And the rogue hunters that did come were easy to take care of without too much hassle and they had good a good relationship with most of their neighboring packs. Only one was a problem, and so far it hadn't been anything of then minor territory boundary fights, no deaths and not any real injuries. 

Kris gets a dreamy smile on her face. “They hubby and I have ordered all our friends to leave us the hell alone starting tomorrow. He doesn't have to go back to work until late Wednesday so I'm taking Monday and Tuesday off. It's going to be great.”

“Sounds like it. You ready for tonight?” Stiles laughs and nudges her shoulder. 

“You better believe it. I've been wanting to ogle your man up close for almost three months. You got lucky dude.” Their coworker Lisa walks up to them. “And we can see about getting you drunk. You always seem so serious. I know there is a dork somewhere in there.” 

He of course tries to deny and flails making both women laugh. His cell beeps at him. Hmm, he has a message. Pulling it up while he says “I'm not a dork. I'm just drawn that way.” 

Lisa laughs and comments on how she loves Who framed Roger Rabbit while he reads the text. It's from Boyd. “Sorry man, Erica's heat came early. You might not want to come home early.”

He fights the urge to growl and throw his phone against a wall. The image of the last time her heat came early, he walked into the house to find Derek had knotted Erica on the living room floor. Coming home to find your boyfriend laying on top of a sexy blond who looked blissed out and happy while your boyfriend kisses and nibbles on her neck and shoulders while holding her tight. Stiles had been standing there almost five minutes before Derek seemed to notice he was there. Derek and looked at him with this satisfied look on his face, before hiding the look and giving him a blank face. Stiles had told him to have fun turned around and spent the night at Deaton's with his head in old books on werewolf lore. Being the emissary in training had some perks. He was going to find a way to make Erica's heats manageable. He had gone home the next day to hear the noises of rough, animalistic sex coming from one of the spare rooms. He had fallen asleep with ear plugs in. Derek had crawled into bed late that night after Boyd had left with Erica. Stiles hadn't been able to let Derek touch him til the next day after he had knows his wolf had showered. 

“Oh no. That's not a happy face.” Kris frowns and points out. 

Stiles takes a deep breath and doesn't even have to think to lie, “Derek can't make it tonight. One of his customers had their car break down. She called and begged Derek to go out and fix it.”

“Ahh, boo.” Lisa says. “He should have told her to call someone else.”

“Yeah, but he's trying to get a new business off the ground. I get why he does it.” He defends his mate. “It still sucks thought.” He says, cause it does suck. He's going to be without his boyfriend while his man is balls deep in his packmate. How the fuck is this is life? 

“Not to interrupt.” Their boss, Misty, walks up. “Sorry to be the barer of bad news but I just got word that we need to get all the zoning for the new subdivision done before Monday's city council meeting for approval. I know I know. It's going to take all weekend for one of you to do it. But I'm approving overtime for it.”

Stiles sighs and raises his hand. “I'll do it. If you think I'm ready.” He knows Kris would be the perfect one to pick but her husband is home. And the idea of having to be home all weekend listening to Derek and Erica and to be honest, Boyd joining in, to marathon sex was not his idea of a good time. Stiles secretly hated the first time he realized 

Brian makes a thoughtful face. “You know know, I think you're ready. You already are doing a lot of work on it and you put most of the documents on it together. Let's see if you can do it. Kris will just be a call away if you need her.”

Kris shoots him a grateful smile. He smiles back. Brian laughs “And to sweeten the deal. I'll even buy the first round.” He hands over a twenty. 

They laugh and lock up the computers before heading out. The bar they are going to is a nice mix of sport bar and relaxed pub. He orders them a round of beers while they wait for Kris' husband. The night passes quickly with many rounds of drinks. The conversation is light and fun and no one brings up Derek. For a whole night Stiles gets to forget about what is happening at his house. They laugh and tease each other. Stiles has a couple beers too many so as the night is wrapping up he orders a cab, Beacon Hills might not be that big but it does have some cabs. There are many slightly buzzed hugs before the all split off. Kris and her husband head home. Lisa's husband swings by and picks her up. Stiles waits for the cab basking in the after glow of the evening. 

The ride back to his house is not long but it feels like it takes hours with how much he's dreading getting there. He knows that Derek just wants to help his pack. He does know that deep down. But the idea of starting a weekend by walking into his house hearing the sounds of his mate fucking someone else. A whole weekend of being alone except for the few minutes between the marathon sex sessions when Derek would stumble out of the guest room to grab food and hug Stiles, usually dripping sweat and cum. His wolf would bury his face in Stiles neck and whimper about how much he loved Stiles until Erica would whine and he would turn without even saying goodbye to Stiles, as if Stiles ceased to exist when Erica needed her Alpha. 

For one long drawn out moment while they were getting closer to the turn off to the preserve, Stiles thinks about telling the driver to turn around, take him any other place, Scott's, his dads, just anywhere. But they take the turn off. He watches the trees go by and then the house comes into view. He had been proud of Derek when he announced plans to rebuild the house years ago. He didn't realize at the time that Derek had made him help him so it would feel like it was his house too. The outside was mostly the original plan. It was beautiful. But the remodeled inside was mostly Stiles. He loved it. It was the home he had always wanted. Climbing out of the cab he handed a twenty over and gave a big tip, it was a long drive. Looking up at the porch he couldn't help but smile. He had put in a porch swing with promises to Derek of long summer evenings and iced tea. The wolf had laughed, kissed him and agreed. 

He walked in and hung up his jacket. Moving into the kitchen to get some water he stopped to the sight of a very naked Boyd getting a couple bottles of water out of the fridge. Stiles shakes his head and reaches past the extra warm wolf and grabs a bottle of his own. He really doesn't want to be hung over while he's working alone tomorrow. Boyd gives him a friendly head nod that Stiles knows means 'I'm sorry your life is this messed up. I don't like that my girlfriend has to cheat on me with your boyfriend'. Or maybe Stiles is drunk. Either way he pats Boyd's shoulder and smiles at him. Chugging the bottle of water he gets some vitamins and aspirin out of the cupboard. He hands Boyd some granola bars they keep around for this situation. Moving quickly he goes up the stairs and turns away from the room he knows Derek uses for the heat sex. It looks a little like a dungeon with sparse furnishings and bigger rough bedding. 

He hears a wet slapping sound and quickens his pace down the hall to his and Derek's room trying not to imagine what is going on in that room. Before he can get the door closed to muffle more of the sound he hears Erica make a high whining sounds that is cut off into a low moan that is joined by a louder and angry grunt that he knows Derek makes when he's getting close to cumming. He quickly strips and downs the vitamins and aspirin with some more water. Climbing into bed he looks in the nightstand for ear plugs but can't find any. Sighing with frustration he sets the alarm for the morning and lays back. Trying to let himself fall asleep he can't help but listen. It's like being next to a porn set. He can actually feel the vibrations of Derek's thrusts through the floors. Without even meaning to he starts to reaches into his boxers and wraps his hand around his hardening cock. Listening to the moaning and grunting starts to drive Stiles wild, losing himself in the feel of his hand tight around his cock. Picturing in his mind Derek on top of his, filling him. Sliding in and out while Stiles moans, instead of Erica. Stiles feels equally turned on and nauseous and he prays it's from the drinking. The grunting gets louder and louder and he knows Derek will cum soon, he shoots all over his stomach when he hears Erica scream, well howl more then scream, as he knows Derek is letting his knot go and shooting load after load into someone who isn't him. 

Coming down from the high of his orgasm he gets up and moves to the bathroom that is attached to their room. Using a towel he cleans up his now sticky cum. Glancing up to the mirror Stiles freezes. His face is shiny with tears, tears he didn't realize he was even crying. Stiles cleans up his face. Turns around and gets back into bed. Laying in bed he lets his mind wander. His mind goes to the image of the last time he walked in on Derek after he knotted Erica. The happy little kisses and touches he did with Erica before he realized Stiles was even there. Rolling on to his side he plans his morning. He'll get up and shower. Call for a cab and head in to work. He'll leave a note for Derek that he's working this weekend. A little voice in the back of his mind, the same voice that used to whisper about his dad being shot in the line of duty, whispers this time, will Derek even notice you're gone until he stops fucking Erica and if he does will he even care. 

Burying his face in his pillow he lets himself finally drift off to sleep. He doesn't even really notice that his pillow is wet with more tears. He knows that Derek won't even notice that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, thank you to everyone who reads my works. And thanks for all the comments.   
> So, I've decided that Erica's heats are about a month apart. So this takes place a month after the previous chapter.

Stiles throws his head back and moans. “Please Derek...Please.”

Derek just gives him a dark laugh and adds a third finger to stretching out Stiles inner walls, finding that one spot that makes Stiles eyes cross and him let loose a high pitched keen. Derek grunts “Need to stretch you more. Need you loose, gonna knot you so good, mate.”

Stiles loves when Derek goes all Alpha and takes control of him. He wants to reach down and jack his cock but Derek had tied his hands to the head board. Looking at his mate, it almost takes his breath away how amazing Derek looks. His face is focused yet open. His eyes are burning red but they look at Stiles with such love that Stiles feels safe, whole, trusting in his mate to tie him down and do what he wants to him. He whines as Derek pulls his fingers out of him. Looking down he watches Derek pant and make light grunts as Derek lubes up their dildo. It's thick and hard and Stiles loves it a little bit. Every time he sees it he know Derek wants to knot him. They did it once without really stretching him out and he actually had to call in sick the next day cause he couldn't walk. 

Derek puts the head of the dildo at his entrance, he's now growling and can't take his eyes off of where the dildo touches Stiles body. Stile loves watching Derek like this. He practically sobs when Derek eases the first couple inches into Stiles. Derek doesn't look away from what he's doing but reaches one hand up to cup Stiles face, trying to sooth his mate. Stiles whole body shudders and he lets Derek push it all the way in, all ten inches, he moans like a whore at the full feeling. Derek has this amazing smile on his face. “Mate.”

Stiles arches his back at a particularly amazing thrust into him and moans out “I love you.” Derek speeds up his movements and Stiles starts to feel it. His orgasm slowly making his body feel like he's burning. Derek changes the angle to pound into his prostate, hard. Stiles vision blurs white and he feels himself shoot all over himself. Derek plasters himself on top of Stiles. Stiles knows he's doing it to cover himself in their combined scents. He can feel Derek's cock rock hard against his stomach. He can even feel the beginnings of his knot. Stiles smiles at how turned on Derek is over him. For the geeky kid in high school he seems to really make his mate hot. He knows that Derek is going to make him cum a couple times tonight. He can feel the bond they have opening up. He read that until it is cemented for a long time it'll only open during sex. He feels Derek's emotions, excitement, happiness, satisfaction and joy. He makes Derek feel joy. 

The afterglow is quickly ruined when Derek growls and get off him standing between him and the door. Stiles thinks for a second that they are under attack. He struggles to get at the knots that have him tied up. Then Boyd opens the door with his arm around the waist, she looks pale and yet flushed and red at the same time. Stiles actually feels like screaming because he knows what that means. She's in fucking heat. Derek turns towards him and moves with quick precision and slices the ropes binding him down. Derek leans down and kisses his forehead, he murmurs “Sorry.” 

“Seriously? What the hell?” He sputters. Derek again looks like he wants to apologize. But Stiles really doesn't care. Stiles glances down and Derek looks even harder if that is even possible. Derek hurries out of the room and when he passes Erica he can see a look on her face. The bitch is smug. She's smug that Derek would stop with him to go to her. Boyd at least looks a little upset. 

Stiles gets up and wipes himself off. He gets dressed and packs a bag. He's not sleeping here tonight. Moving about his room getting things he'll need for the next two days he mutters about fucking alphas and stupid bitches and fucking cheating lying assholes. He's fucking done for a while. Walking down the hall he can hear Erica whining for harder and more and Boyd. Shaking with rage he walks out of the house. Climbing into his jeep and takes a deep breath and yells out every bit of anger. This takes a while. He wipes his face off and calms down. He's not a fucking idiot, he's not going to drive his car while crying. 

He pulls up to Scott's and Allison's and Isaac's place a few minutes later. Scott hears him and come out to greet him. “Dude, what's up? Oh my why do you smell like that?”

He immediately starts to calm down looking at Scott's face. It reminds him of when they were young and life wasn't so messed up. “I don't really want to talk about it. Can I crash here a couple days?”

Scott agrees and they walk in. Scott must smell his frustration cause he keeps flashing his neck, instinctively trying to calm his Alpha's mate down. Stiles must be spending too much time with wolves, cause it seems to be working. They spend the next couple hours paying video games and ordering pizza while Allison and Isaac make fun of both of them for acting like teens. Stiles goes to bed that night feeling relaxed. 

His mind finally isn't pounding angry words about his life. He takes a couple minutes to really think about Derek and his place with the pack. He loves being second and helping everyone. When Erica wasn't in heat she was actually really fun to be with, they would geek out and watch movies and talk for hours. It's probably why that smug look pissed him off so much. And Derek was an awesome boyfriend, usually. He listened to Stiles and depended on him to help lead the pack. He was currently in negotiations with a pack back east so Jackson could go live with Lydia while she was at MIT. They were close to an agreement. Stiles had been the one to work out the treaties with most of the packs around their territory. An Alpha having a human mate meant that the pack was stable and healthy. Unlikely to break the code and upset the balance of the territories. The only pack that really didn't get along with them was the pack to the west of them, the Dow pack. Their alpha was young, and a racist douche. He had been an ass to all the humans in his pack. They had all left for other packs, most of them had gone to the Jarik pack. Stiles had been the one to handle those negotiations. Derek had been smug and confident during the talks with other packs, happy to let his mate do all the talking. A week later his wolf had given him a ring, marked with the triskele on it. Derek had kiss his hand after putting it on his finger, saying Stiles was his mate, his everything. 

Stiles lay there in a bed that wasn't his letting himself think about all the good things that Derek did. He could hear Willow's voice in his head saying, love makes you do the whacky. He would have to plan a Buffy marathon this week. He fell asleep happy. 

He woke up sore and feeling greasy. Too much pizza last night. Looking over to his phone he saw four missed texts from Derek. The first one asking him if he was ok. The second telling him he loved him and wanted him to come home. The third was telling him he would be here when he wanted to talk. And the fourth was from Lydia asking him if he wanted her to help him castrate Derek. 

He texted Derek that he was fine and to Lydia that plan might work. But not yet. He joined Scott and Allison in the living room. “Dude, did you tell Lydia?”

Scott looks down. “No, but Jackson wanted to know why he heard you yelling earlier so I had to tell him. He probably told Lydia. It sucks. We can smell Erica's pain when she's in heat, but there has to be a way to stop them. We remember how much pain Isaac was in when he went into heat before we fell in love with him. Derek should just bite you and mark you as his mate. Isaac's heats got better when we bit him”

Stiles nods his head in agreement. “Yeah, would be nice if he would do that. I hope he does it soon. But what if he does it and it doesn't stop her heats, Scott. I'm not sure I could bare that. To officially be his mate and still have to have him fuck her. It would drive me insane. But enough of that. What's new with you guys?”

He listens to the three of them talk about how happy and amazing it is to be mated. Scott is just as gone on Isaac as he was about Allison in high school. It makes him want to laugh at his best friend. He gets this dopey look every time he looks at the blond wolf or the brunette huntress. Stiles feels happy for them. They are a good thruple. He's making that a word. They make a good thruple. 

Stiles spends the rest of the day with them. He almost feels normal again when the day is over. He opens his texts before going to bed. Derek telling him he's sorry, to forgive him. 

He texts him, I'll be home after her heat is done. 

Before he goes to sleep his cell beeps at him, thank you for calling it home. 

Sleep claims him. He has to go to work tomorrow and then he'll go home. But he and Derek are going to have a talk.


	4. Chapter 4

Three months of happiness. Well. Not complete happiness but they were good. Stiles was currently sitting at work, trying not to squirm. He had walked with a limp all week, saying his had fallen. His co-workers had teased him all week that Derek was being too rough. He had blushed and was happy his co-workers were all fun. Truthfully, Derek had knotted him every day for a week. Last night he had even cried when he'd cum, telling Stiles he had never felt this happy. 

They had met with three other packs in the past couple months. Derek showing off his mate by marking and making everyone smell all that they did. The Alpha pair of the Jarik pack had teased and laughed calling them young love birds. They had cemented their alliances even though they were one of the smallest packs in the area, with the Hale name and Stiles quick thinking and ruthless planning, they were a respected pack. Derek and he had been talking and had actually set a date for their bonding. Derek was going to bite him at the end of the summer. There was a tradition and a special moon, symbolized something special to the Alpha. Later he learned that was when he parents had done it. 

So of course the universe was going to kick them in the teeth. Erica's heat had started and Stiles was working late again. He did not want to go home. He secretly hoped that he had worn Derek out and he wouldn't be able to perform. But knowing about werewolf stamina he wasn't putting much hope in it. The evening passed way to quickly. He finished a project and didn't want to stay and start another. Hoping into his car he drove home. Feeling his stomach get more and more upset as he got closer he pulled up to his house with a sense of dread. Deciding to not even bother trying to ignore the sounds he pops some ear buds in and starts playing some music. Boyd is sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. Stiles smiles as he walks by the tall wolf. 

Getting some left overs out of the fridge he heats them up. Moving around his kitchen he gets a second plate for Boyd. Putting the plate in front of Boyd he pats him on the shoulder. Trying to not think too much about what the wolf is listening to going on upstairs. He wants to be there for the wolf. Boyd gives him a weak smile and he goes upstairs with his food. He thanks every god he can remember from myths and legends that he makes it to his room without hearing anything from the sex room. Getting his laptop out he starting watching YouTube loudly while he eats. After killing an hour online he takes his earphones out and sighs at the quiet. Getting his ear plugs out he sets his alarm and turns out the lights. Falling asleep is easier said than done when he can actually feel the movement of the bed down the hall. His mate is literally fucking someone so hard the whole bed is moving. He can taste bile in his mouth and tries hard to focus on his breathing. In and out, one particularly hard slam echoes down the hall and he can hear Erica make a porno like scream. Derek roars in repsonse and Stiles knows he's knotted her. He tries very hard to not listen but he can almost hear the kissing. The Alpha demanding Erica submit and take what he gives her. Stiles is officially sick now. He rolls over and grabs a sleeping pill and downs it. Hoping it will help. He falls asleep to the sounds of his love making someone else howl as they both cum. 

Waking up without the warmth of Derek in the morning sucks but he heads to the shower and gets ready for the day. Grabbing his bag on the way down the stairs he glances down the hall and sees that the door is open. Even he can smell the sweat and sex smell coming from the room. Shaking his head he walks down the stairs turning into the kitchen. To a mostly naked Erica. Hmm, that's new. She's wearing just a green sweatshirt that barely covers the bottom of her stomach, her ass and other bits are on full display. Stiles tries not to flail around and he realized that the carpet matches the drapes. Moving about he gets his coffee ready and grabs a breakfast bar. He has to get to the office soon. 

“Make me some breakfast.” Erica snaps out. Normally when the pack asks him to make food it sounds more like little kids asking a babysitter for dinner. This was just bitchy. She gives him a smug fucking look. “I'm tired. Derek wore me out.”

“Make it yourself. Or ask your mate to do it.” He looks around. “Where is Boyd? He's normally here in the mornings to take care of you.”

Erica glares at him. “He left last night. He doesn't like listening either. But at least he was brave enough not to listen to music.”

“Hmm, I think you mean masochistic enough. And no. I don't want to hear it. It's hot, but knowing my boyfriend and future husband is banging you. Just doesn't make my night that fun.” He walks out of the room, heading to the front door. “And for the love of god. Put on some damn underwear.”

He tries to play it off as funny most of the day. There was a naked women in his kitchen this morning. But by the end of the day he just feels tired and annoyed. Luckily he got an all clear text from Boyd right as he was about to head home. This drive home is much better. Until he gets there and Derek is laying in their bed still covered in cum and other fluids that Stiles tries very hard not to think about. 

“Dude. Go shower.” He whines. Ok, yes he whines. 

“Too tired. Come hold me Stiles. I need my mate.” Ok, he can't help that. He might be drinking the kool aid but he really wants to make this relationship with Derek work. He's a freakin leader of the pack. He kinda has to. He climbs into bed and Derek wraps himself around him. “Love you so much Stiles.”

“Love you too Derek.” Hating himself a little for still meaning it. But as he falls asleep with Derek holding him tight, he actually thinks to himself, 'I can handle this. My mate loves me, and the pack respects me. I'm a leader. If it stays like this, I can handle it. If having to work late and deal with a naked Erica are the worse things that happen to me. I can handle it.'

 

Of course the universe decides to test his resolve. With three terrible strikes and Stiles is out. 

The first was that weekend, they had received a letter from the Alpha of the Dow pack. What a douche. They all gather at the house while Derek tells them the bad news. The Dow pack wants to use a part of the Hale territory. A lake with a couple cabins that the Hale pack hadn't used since before the fire. Stiles had never even been there. Derek had told him a couple days previously so he could think up a good solution. Stiles had, he had come up with a good compromise. The Dow pack was moving on their territory today. And they would get something in turn. 

Everyone was gathered around. Stiles could practically feel the tension in the pack as Derek explains what's happening. Stiles lays out his plan. They let the Dow pack use the lake for the summer and in return they get to use a mountain area that is in the Dow pack's territory for training. It'll give them a different terrain to train in using new tactics that Allison and her dad had been working on to combine wolf and hunter maneuvers. He watches Derek look at him with pride as he lays the plan out to the pack. Scott and Allison look more relaxed by the time he's done. Isaac just looks happy his mates are relaxed. Boyd is his usual stoic self and Erica is looking more and more agitated. Stiles wants to call her out for not paying attention to him. But she beats him to it. 

“Why the hell should be let them in our territory?” Erica jumped up shouting. She turned and stepped close to Derek. “We should fight them off. We can't just let them come and tell us what to do. Why are we letting another pack tell us what to do?”

Stiles watches as Derek's face, that had only minutes ago been shining with pride at his words, cloud over with confusion and uncertainty. She steps even closer and Stiles feels the bottom drop out of his stomach as Derek gets the face he does every time Erica shows up in heat. Like he's lost half his brain. “We don't need the humans Derek, we can fight them off as wolfs. Keep Stiles here, he'll be safe. And we don’t need hunters, you can't trust them.”

Everyone starts to argue when he sees Derek take a deep breath which rather then settling him seems to make him even more agitated. The Alpha's eyes flash red and he growls. He watches his mate flare his nose and he breaths in again. The pit of his stomach feels like lead. “She's right. It is our territory. We shouldn't let them in.”

He growls and flashes his eyes at all the wolves. “Come on. We're going to go teach them to not piss me off.”

The wolfs all take off out the door. Allison looks at him like she can't believe what just happened. They walk out together and watch their wolves disappear though the trees toward the east and north. To a part of the territory they rarely go and have almost no familiarity with. They are fucked. Turning to Allison “Call your dad. We're going to go after them with hunters. The Dow back has almost 60 adult wolves last time I checked. They can rip us apart without trying.”

He almost doesn't recognize his own voice. It sounds cold and detached. Allison gets her phone out and makes the call. “They can be ready in an hour. There aren't as many Argents in the area as there used to be.”

He nods his head and turns back inside. Going to his and Derek's room he pulls out his own weapons. Cursing the need to have them at all. He grabs a gun with a couple clips of wolvesbane bullets and a large back of mountain ash. Going back down he waits with Allison. His stomach twisting more and more until he feels like he's going to throw up. And he does. Allison pats his back while he retches everything he's eaten today. Cleaning up he hears the SUV's coming to get them. He goes and meets the hunters coming up the drive way. They get in and go to meet the wolves and hope they are in time. The hunters looking at him oddly. They still feel weird being so closely allied to a pack. But they had worked together plenty of times to bring down rogue wolves or other supernatural issues. They were ok.

Stiles really hates being right at this moment. They meet the bloodied wounded members of their pack about a mile south of the lake. Isaac and Boyd are holding a very beaten Derek between them. It looks like Derek was gutted. The Alpha must have been the one to do it since it's not healing. Every wolf is holding some part of them or limping. It takes him a minute to look around and realize that Scott isn't there. “Where's Scott?” 

Isaac starts to break down and cry. “They took him. It was horrible. There were 30 of them and their Alpha was with them. We came upon them and Erica ran and jumped on one of them. It was over so fast. There were so many of them. Two of them were attacking Derek and he was holding his own, they their Alpha jumped in and they held him down while the Alpha went to town on him.”

The rest of the story is written on the features of the pack. Stiles mind races a mile a minute. This went from a simple territory dispute to an act of war the second they took Scott. Stiles tries to keep his mind from going to all the dark places. His friend will be ok. “Get them into the back of the cars. We're going to get Scott back, Allison. I swear. Hunter, you feel like being bad guys?” He has an idea. 

Chris Argent looks all to happy. “What do you have in mind, Alpha Hale?”

Stiles notices that Erica glares at Chris giving him that title. The hunters help get Derek into the back. Stiles wants to fall to his knees and cry at how much pain Derek must be in, he's not even awake anymore. They get Derek situated and start wrapping his wounds up. Knowing that Derek is being taken care of Stiles moves on. “We're going to capture who ever their Alpha left to guard the place and ransom them for Scott.”

Erica actually has the balls to ask. “And what do we do if they don't give Scott back?”

He looks at the blonde who is the reason for most of his homicidal thoughts. “Than we kill all of them, Erica. We're done listening to the person here who almost failed out of math. Talk again to question me and I'll shoot you myself. Understand?”

The last word comes out as a barked order. She must have been listening to his heart cause he meant it. Looking at the damage to Derek and knowing that she is to blame, he does mean it. If she gets in his way he'll shoot her and not feel bad. Boyd wisely keeps his mouth shut too, knowing he doesn't have a leg to stand on. “Ok, good. Boyd and Isaac you seem to be healing. Good. We're going to use you as bait. We're going to send you too back to the outskirts of the area until they see you. They'll still be high from the win and think you're coming back to get Scott and they come after you. That's when they'll run into a trap.”

Bringing up a map of the area on his tablet he maps out the route they're going to take. They all agree. By the time they get the plan laid out Derek is coming back slowly. He seems to be focused on breathing, which is fine. Stiles is in plan mode and doesn't want to deal with Derek right now. His plan goes off without a hitch. The wolves run after Boyd and Isaac and easily see the trap they set up. They turn and go back and the real trap goes off. Stiles traps them in a circle of Mountain ash he laid around the cabin while they were out chasing Boyd and Isaac. Who make their way back with the SUV's and the hunters. Stiles does a quick count, 15. There are 15 werewolves trapped by him. They all look over thirty. Adults attacking a bunch of people in their twenties. 

“One of you has to have your Alpha's number. Call him. We're going to make an exchange.” He says. 

One them, the oldest looking one. Laughs. “Why would we do that? All we have to do is wait til he comes back and chases you off.”

Stiles laughs back. “All he'll come back to find is a quarter of his pack dead. You actually think I'm not going to kill all of you?”

That takes the wind of the wolfs sails. The others all start to look uncomfortable. “Chris, you get those new wolvesbane grenades you were talking about?”

The spokesmen starts to stutter. “You can't do that. The other packs will turn on you.”

Stiles is so happy he's read and studied all the pack treaties. “Actually, they'll do jack shit. Had you just kicked out ass and kept the land, then you're right. This would have been a simple territory dispute. But taking a prisoner. That's an act of war. Different rules. You're going to call your Alpha and help to bargain with him or there's going to be a horrible accident where a lot of people burned to death in a cabin.”

He can hear his own pack gasp in horror at his comment. Mostly because he means it. Scott is his best friend, his brother, and they have taken him. There are only two options to how this will end, he will get his brother back, or a lot of people are going to die. 

The spokeswolf, Stiles laughs at his joke in his head, takes out his phone and calls, he wisely puts it on speaker without having to be told. They hear an angry growl. “What!?”

Stiles starts talking before the Dow wolfs can say anything. “Hi, Alpha Dow. Stiles here. You know, Alpha Hales mate. I hear you have something that's mine.”

“Sniveling human. You're not a mate, you're just a fuck. A real Alpha needs to breed, and you're just not good enough.” He can hear judgmental scorn in the Alpha's voice. “And I'll be keeping this wolf. When I'm done with him he'll know what a real Alpha is.”

He hears a hard hit and grunt in the background. “Hmm, now this is what happens when a pack loses all of it's humans. So now that we're done exchanging pleasantries, if you don't give me Scott back, I'm going to butcher your 15 wolves here.”

“You don't have the guts, you're just a worthless human.” Stiles doesn't even hesitate, he aims his gun and pulls the trigger. The wolf next to the spokesman falls clutching his stomach.

“Ok, so correction, that's 14 wolves left. That one might live, if we help him. So we ready to talk, or do I start aiming for heads?” He keeps his voice level, like he's having a normal conversation. 

The spokesman starts to beg. “Please Alpha. He means it. Alpha they have hunters here. Please.”

The voice over the phone lowers “What do you want me to do?”

Stiles smiles, “Well, one of your pack, and only one, will drive Scott back to the little market off of 101, we'll have two hunters waiting to bring him back, when they text me that they're back in our territory I'll break the circle and let your wolves head back to your territory. Just to keep you in the loop, I'll be leaving some hunters here. I think this place could be a great training area for hunters. It would help cement our alliance.”

The Alpha growls over the phone. He has no choice. “Fine. Do it.” 

Stiles relaxes and plays the waiting game. After about thirty minutes Scott texts them saying he's fine and heading home to bed. “Perfect. Now let's get you gone. When I take down the line, please for all our sakes just relax and leave. I'd really hate to have to use the wolvesbane grenades, that only leads to scream and blood and lots of death. And I have to work tomorrow.”

He kneels down and throws his hands apart breaking the line. All the Dow wolves breath a little easier. Stiles gets out some burned wolvesbane and jams it into the wounded wolf. He screams and then relaxes while his body heals itself. He turns and notices Derek is awake in the Argent SUV. He feels a wave of relief at seeing his mate healing. The Dow wolves pick up their pack mate and start to head back to their cars. Stiles watches for any sign they might decide to turn and fight. The spokesman wolf gives Stiles a nod as he walks by, Stiles can't stop his brain to mouth filter this time. “Following a bad Alpha is the epitome of a bad deal. We all have to follow our Alpha's but make sure he's worth following.”

He doesn't look at Derek while he says that, but he wants his mate to hear it. Derek shit the bed with this fight. They help some of the hunters unload some gear and set them up in one of the cabins. The hunters still look weird about working with wolves instead of against them, but Stiles thinks they're getting used to it. He feels a swell of pride in himself, it was his idea to make a treaty with the hunters. He even wrote their treaty. 

They head back home and Boyd helps carry Derek up to their room. Derek is pale and sweating by the time they tuck him under the blankets. Boyd hugs Stiles. His way of saying good job. He heads downstairs and faces the rest of the pack. “Isaac and Allison, head home. Scott will need some cuddle time. Jackson, fill in Lydia about the situation. Have her touch base with some of her contacts back here, see if the Dow pack is going to be trying to save face and attack again. Everyone else, head home. Heal for a while.”

For a minute Erica looks like she's going to make a scene at Stiles giving orders, truthfully he doesn't do it often, even though it's his right at the mate of the Alpha. Stiles just keeps staring at her in the eyes until Boyd pulls her away gently and hugs her. They leave together. Stiles grabs his laptop on the way back up to his sleeping mate. He knows that Derek will heal better having the whole pack under the same roof, but he is not letting Erica stay in this house tonight. Not after having his best friend taken in a plan that should have never happened. Derek was an idiot for listening to her. His mate had gotten the same far away look in his eyes whenever Erica was in heat right before he changed his mind and did what Erica wanted. Stiles hates to think this way but he is the planner. If this keeps up he knows he will not be safe as Derek's mate anymore, Erica will take his place and the pack will fall apart. He starts writing a new resume and looking up grad programs.   
He emails his old friends at Berkeley, her mom is the Alpha of the Garcia Pack. He's going to need her permission to move back there and go to school.   
He looks at his sleeping mate, he loves Derek. And he can feel how much Derek loves him back. But things are going to change, Stiles can sense it in the air. He prays that he isn't going to need to leave, but if everything keeps going south and doesn't change, he won't be able to stay. He tells Sam Garcia everything that's going on in his life, pouring out his heart. She was his best friend at college. He ends the email with a request to ask her mom if he were to get into the grad program would he be allowed into their territory. He hits send.


	5. Chapter 5

Everything calms down after a couple days. Derek walks on eggshells around Stiles for the first week. Praising him in front of the rest of the back, saying what an amazing mate he is and how much he loves him. Stiles hates himself when he hugs Derek and says he loves him too. 

He goes to work a couple days after it calms down. He walks into his boss' office and interrupts his boss. “Hi Misty, you have a minute?”

“Sure thing Stiles. Sit down.” She replies. He sits down and tries to phrase what he wants to say. 

“Well, I wanted to let you know I applied for grad school at Berkeley. I'm pretty sure I'll get it. I had a 3.9 and my GRE were good. If I did I was going to try to start this summer.” He rushes through it. 

Misty makes a confused face, “Ok, that was a lot of info. Ok, so if you got in when would you know? And would you want to keep working here, we do have a program where you can work part time, and telecommute. You'd have to be here for meetings every couple weeks but we could try to work around your classes.” She it taking this way better the he had anticipated. 

“Well, I have a friend who is a professor there so she said she'd talk to Admissions and see if she could speed it up. So I'm thinking two weeks. I also already filled out all the paper work for the return to school program.” He hands her a packet of papers. “I also applied for the grant program that will pay for the Masters if I come back and work for four years here.”

Misty leafs through the papers. “Well, I'll be sorry to not have you here but it looks like you're determined to do this. I'll file these and start the process.” She shifts from a professional air to one of curiosity. “Why now?”

He know what she means. He's a local, his family is here, he's in a relationship. He decides to not pull a punch. “Derek is cheating on me. So I decided I'm done. Gonna take a break from it all and get a new start.”

She makes a face. “Boys are stupid. Shots tonight after work?”

He smiles. “Deal.”

The work day goes by in a blur, Lisa and Kris both laughing and joking with him all day while they work. He starts to feel a part of his relax that he didn't realize was tense. How long has he felt like this that he didn't even know it? They all walk to a local bar and take a table while talking about annoying clients that day. Misty buys the first round of shots. “Ok, so Stiles has an announcement.”

“Well, I applied for grad school. If I get in I'll be leaving, going down to part time and working from home.” He grabs a shot and throws it back. “Just feel like a I need something different.”

Kris knows he's talking out of his ass, “Derek cheated.” He feels a little weird telling people that, but it's true. Derek was cheating on him. He just hoped that it didn't get around town until he was ready to leave, luckily his pack didn't run in a lot of the same circles as his coworkers. 

Everyone makes noises of anger and support. The rest of the night passes in guy bashing and drinking. He has to take a cab home. Luckily it's just Derek's car waiting for him. Getting out he can see his mate through the windows watching tv. He longed to be wrapped in Derek's arms and at the same time longed to get back in the cab and go anywhere else. Man-up he told himself. He headed inside. “Honey, I'm home.”

“Where have you been? I made dinner.” Derek asks him mildly. “Ohh, wow, you smell like a distillery.”

“I was grabbing some drinks with the coworkers. It was nice.” He leans into the hug Derek is giving him. He loves the feel of Derek's arms around him. He takes a deep breath trying to steel himself. “Der, I know you don't like talking about this but I have to try one last time.”

Derek jerks his body away from Stiles. The wolf giving him a tired angry look. “Stiles.”

“No Derek. I swear I will never bring this up again. I just need to get this out.” He knows that Derek can hear the truth in his heartbeat. And he does mean it, if he can't get through to his mate this time, he'll be gone so he won't have to ever talk about it again. “I hate that you keep fucking Erica. Please, I am literally begging, contact anyone, everyone. It's not normal and it is a problem. You agreed with her when she said we should attack the Dow pack and you got that fucked up look on your face when she was talking. What the hell was that? 

Derek huffs out angrily. Stiles can feel the pit of his stomach drop as he knows Derek is not going to think about any of it and just say what he always does. “Stiles, I'm not going to do this again. I have to help her, she's my pack. I'm sorry you're hurting but she's in pain so I have to help her. I'm being a good Alpha. I love you. And I will work harder to make you feel that, but I'm not going to stop helping a member of my pack.” Derek reaches out and grabs Stiles' arms in what would be a loving manner if Stiles wasn't pissed. “I can't air our dirty laundry to other packs. It'll make us look weak. I love you Stiles. If that's not enough, then you don't have to be here for her heats. I promise I will always talk about anything else you worry about. Anything. But I'm done with this conversation.”

Stiles can feel the tears in his eyes and he nods his head. “I said I wouldn't bring it up again, and I won't. I'm going to bed.”

Derek pulls him into a hug and buries his face in Stiles' neck, inhaling deeply. Rubbing his face on Stiles' skin. Stiles lets him for a few minutes before heading upstairs. He changes and gets into bed. Pulling up his laptop he checks his email to see if there is anything good. Nothing yet. Now he just has to play the waiting game. He's leaving soon. 

Derek follows him to bed later. Werewolves need less sleep. Derek mumbles “I love you” before wrapping his arms around Stiles and going to sleep. Stiles doesn't say it back. 

They fall into the same routine they usually have. Stiles and Derek working. The pack coming over for dinners and movie nights. It almost starts to feel like normal. Derek makes love to him in their bed, he's gentle and sweet even when Stiles begs him to fuck him hard. Stiles knows how satisfied Derek is after the rough angry fucking during Erica's heats. He knows Derek likes to let loose but after months he's realized that Derek has stopped being rough with him and only being gentle while Erica gets one more part of Derek. The days go by slowly while Stiles waits, he corresponds with Alpha Garcia, making plans. She fully accepted him into her territory with an official offer to join the pack as a human beta. He sent back that he wanted to wait to officially join the pack but that he would help out in any way that he could. He asks Alpha Garcia about her pack, gets assurances about things he's interested in. Sam emails him about things they can do when he gets there. 

Erica's monthly heat comes and Stiles decides to stay. He's not running yet. Boyd and Erica walk into the house, she looks excited while Boyd looks worried. Derek moves quickly from his seat on the couch next to Stiles going to Erica and grabbing her and burying his face in her neck. Stiles watches his mate hold someone else. Erica gives him an arrogant smirk. Stiles just smiles back. If this is going to be his last time here for this he's not going quietly. Boyd turns and heads back outside, Erica makes a distressed noise but the large man keeps walking. Derek growls and picks Erica up and starts upstairs. He doesn't look back at Stiles once. 

Stiles finishes watching the tv show he was on then heads upstairs to his and Derek's room. He can practically feel the tension in the house, the little noises of Derek kissing Erica, the growls they both make as they get closer to rutting like animals. Stiles takes out some lube and throws it on the bed and starts undressing. It feels like he's in a room with a loud porn going on next door. He lays back after getting naked and can feel himself get hard. Lubing up he slides his hand up and down while he hears Derek slam into Erica, the wet sound of their skin meeting as she howls. Stiles shudders in equal parts disgust and lust. Spreading his legs he circles his hole teasing himself listening to Derek speed up and growl, Stiles slides into himself picturing Derek half shifted, looking sexy as hell. Stiles speeds up his hand on his cock as he goes deeper into himself. He can almost feel Derek's knot start to form as he listens to his wolf get closer and closer. Finally he moans Derek's name as he hears Derek howls and he knots Erica. Stile lays there feeling himself come down from the high. A no little part of him hating how much fun that ways. He thinks he might actually be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Stumbling into the shower he tries to not think about how this is the start of it for a couple days. 

The rest of the heat passes with almost no change. No one comes over. Scott keeps texting him supportive notes and he listens to the man he loves fuck someone else. A week after the heat ends the shit hits the fan. They find evidence of pixies moving into the territory. Stiles stays up all night researching and talking to other sources. It's a band of woodland pixies looking to settle down. Stiles knows from research that pixies are tricksters but if you can get them to agree to a treaty then they will honor it. Stiles lays out the plan and Derek looks at him like he's a dream. He kisses and holds his mate close. Of course, it doesn't work out like that. 

“We should attack them. Kick them out of our territory.” Erica growls out. Moving in close to Derek. He leans in to the female wolf and gets the same look, his eyes flashing red for a second. Stiles doesn't even have to continue listening. He turns and looks at Allison. She gives him a look that says WTF. 

Derek growls at the wolves and they take off into the wood. Stiles turns. “Call your hunters. This is going to go very very badly.”

She doesn't hesitate, she gets on her phone and starts calling. They arrive at the site of the fight an hour later. It's a blood bath, there are bodies of pixies on the ground. Every wolf except Erica looks like hamburger. But there is no sign of Jackson. He orders some of the hunters to stay and care for the wolves. The rest of them take off after the pixies, they track them down three hours later, they get close and can hear hoarse screams. Oh god, Jackson is screaming. They come around a bend in the hills and find Jackson, or what he has to assume is Jackson. There doesn't seem to be much skin left of the wolf. Stiles feels himself shut down and become only the Alpha's Mate, they open fire on the remaining pixies scattering them. They go in and get Jackson, who won't let go of Stiles. They start to head back to a road to get Jackson loaded. Over the radios they all head back to Deatons to get all the wolfs taken care of. By the time they get there Derek is mostly healed. Scott and Isaac still look haggard and are covered in bandages. Boyd looks tired but his cuts are slowly closing. They get Jackson wrapped in gauze and bandages. He's whimpering and whining as Deaton gives him a heaving sedative. 

After everyone is out of danger Stiles thanks the hunters for honoring their treaty. He walks back into the office feeling rage start to grow in him. This was fucking the last straw. Derek won't look him in the eye and keeps watching Erica. Stiles feels a sense of dread as he realizes why she wasn't in the fight. The only way that she would stay out of a fight was if Derek ordered it, and the only way that would happen would be if there was a very special reason. Like she was pregnant. Stiles takes a deep breath. “Does this mean what I think it does?”

Derek finally looks at him. He looks like he's in more pain then when they got to the fight. “Stiles. I..”

Stiles doesn't stop. “Is it yours?”

Boyd looks uncomfortable. “It probably is. Erica and I haven't been...”

Stiles wave the comment away. He only feels tired, tired physically and emotionally. “What now, Derek?”

Derek huffs out a breath. “She'll have to move in. I'll have to have her close to feel comfortable. I'm sorry if that upset you, Stiles.”

Stiles feels nothing. “Can we talk about this first?”

“No Stiles. I'm the Alpha. This is how this is going to work.” Derek actually growls at him.

Stiles just is done. “You are the Alpha. You word is law, just remember you're also the Alpha that almost lost two of your betas in the last month. Be better.” 

He snaps the last two words out. Derek looks sad for a minute before heading out with Erica and Boyd. Stiles turns and looks at the rest of the pack. Scott and Isaac will need a couple more hours before they can go home. He goes about for a few minutes checking the bandages on his friends, letting Derek get far enough the won't hear anything. “Ok, some new. I'm going to move. I got into a grad program. I start in a couple weeks.”

His words are met with a wall of noise and protests. Scott looks gutted. “Stiles, you're leaving us again?”

“Scott, you and I will always be brothers. But I can't stay now. I won't stay and watch someone else raise a child with Derek, someone else take my place in the pack. But I will always be there for you. Always.” He takes a deep breath. He's about to be very rude, in wolf terms, it's not illegal, but it's considered rude. “If things break bad, Alpha Garcia is offering you all places in her pack. Allison, she would welcome a treaty with hunters. She has a decent relationship with her local hunters, her pack follows the code. They don't attack humans. Sorry Boyd, the agreement doesn't include Erica now that she's having Derek's child.”

He just undermined every future decision Derek is going to make. He's a huge dick. But he can't leave without knowing that his friends will be able to survive. Deaton makes a noise that sounds judgmental. Ok, maybe Stiles is feeling guilty about that, but he gives the vet a look, asking I'm I wrong? The vet wisely doesn't make anymore noises. Stiles hugs and lets the wolves scent mark him. He knows it'll make them feel better. After an hour he heads home knowing Allison will get her mates home. 

He walks into his house. Derek isn't back yet with Erica and her stuff. He packs a couple bags making sure he gets all his tech stuff and enough cloths for a couple weeks. He leaves a note with one word 'bye' on it. Let Derek talk to the rest of his betas to find Stiles. He's wasted enough energy on the asshole. He gets to his dads house and explains everything to the Sheriff. He is proud he doesn't break down crying until the end. He falls asleep while his dad holds him. The next morning his dad makes him pancakes with chocolate chips like when he was a child. He lets his dad take care of him, he doesn't let his dad have any of the pancakes which makes his dad laugh. He gets a ding from his email before he heads off to work. It's his acceptance to the grad program. He smiles in relief. It would have sucked to make all these plans to not get in. While he is sitting there he gets another email. It's from Alpha Smith, where Lydia is going to MIT, joyously offering Jackson approval to come and stay in his territory for Lydia's last year of school. Stiles smiles, his last act as Derek's make is to thank Alpha Smith and let him know that Jackson will arrive in a few weeks once he sets everything up. 

The next three weeks at his dads house pass with no texts or calls from Derek. Scott is there almost everyday. They play video games and bond over stories from before all the wolf stuff started. Scott never tells him what Derek is doing. Which makes Stiles thankful. He wants stories of Derek making a fool of himself, but he's afraid of hearing that Derek is perfectly fine. Finally it's the day. He's had a going away party at work. His dad drove in with him in to campus, looking at his new place. Meeting Alpha Garcia and Sam. The Alpha soothing the Sheriff's worries about his boy. He leaves a couple bags of his stuff there. 

Stiles makes one last trip to Derek's house, he needs the rest of his things. He drives up and sees Erica's car there. Wonderful. He mutters to himself. Walking in he looks around. No one is downstairs. Than he hears the noise. It's a common noise. Derek fucking Erica. He feels his stomach clench and he almost pukes is his mouth. There is no reason for Derek to be fucking her, other than he wants to. Holding on to every bit of anger he can manage he walks up the stairs turning toward his old room he feels tears in his eyes. The noise is coming from in front of him. Not the guest room. Fuck. He walks in and gets a full view of Derek's perfect body, fully nude. Erica's legs wrapped around his waist. From how Derek hasn't pulled away from her, Stiles knows he's knotted to her. Unable to leave her. Stiles feels sick. The ass didn't even wait a full month. He goes to to his closet without taking to either of them. Getting out a suitcase he starts loading the last of his cloths. 

“Stiles this isn't want it looks like.” Derek tells him. 

Stiles tries to ignore him. He fails. “Really Der, cause it looks like you are fucking her on our bed. Did you just do it or was it the day I moved out?”

Derek looks guilty. “It's my wolf, Stiles. She was upset and needed comfort.”

“Cool Derek. Now you can comfort her all you want. I'm done.” He loads the last of his cloths in and zips the suitcase closed. Moving around the room trying not to get to close to them. He takes his stuff out of the drawers by the bed. Erica has the balls to smirk at him. He is 200% done with her. 

“Stiles, no. Please baby. We can talk about this.” Derek actually has tears in his eyes. 

“Fuck you Derek. I begged you to talk about this month ago. You promised me we could talk about everything before you did anything and then you moved that bitch into my house with a growl about how you're the Alpha. So you get to live with that Alpha. You're not my boyfriend anymore. I'm not your mate. I'm not your anything anymore. You're not longer my Alpha. I'm no longer your pack. I no longer will help you. Make your own decisions now. I'm done with you.” He finishes with the last of the stuff he can see. He'll send his dad or Scott to get anything he forgot. “Good luck with her as your mate. You're going to need it.”

Derek is opening sobbing now. “Stiles, you're my mate. I can't do this without you, baby. Please don't leave me.”

Now Stiles is tearing up. “You're probably right, but Derek, you are literally balls deep in someone else. You're having a kid with someone Derek. And I can't stay and just be less every day. Be less of your mate, be less of a leader. I got into the grad program. I'm leaving your territory. Just so you know, Jackson got the all clear to go to Cambridge and spend the next year with Lydia. He leaves in two weeks. And with that I am officially done.”

He walks about dragging his bags behind him. Not sure if he takes more then one trip if he will have the strength to actually leave. The sounds of Derek calling for him make him stumble as he walks out the front door. Loading up his car he gives in and puts his head down against the metal. Taking a deep breath he gets in and drives away. For the first time in a year, he takes a deep breath. He will be ok. It'll hurt, but he'll be ok.


	6. Chapter 6

Derek had no idea what to do. His mate had left him and his beta was carrying his child. It had been three days since Stiles had left for good. Isaac and Boyd were having a going away party for Jackson. Derek had originally tried to stop the blond from leaving, but Stiles had bargained with Alpha Smith so well that it would be insulting to not let the wolf go to his mate. And after the torture he knew the boy could use some time with Lydia. He watches Isaac set up food and a couple presents. Boyd moves around decorating to Lydia's orders. She is on Skype directing the party. Derek greeted her when they started and she responded with icy politeness. She is clearly on Stiles side. Not that he blames her. It seems his whole pack has chosen Stiles in their break up. 

“Alright, now put the streamers up next. Don't worry Boyd, you only have to put them on the opening to the living room. Blue and white are his favorite colors so put those ones up.” Lydia's voice directs everyone. Boyd puts the streamers up on the walls with a small smile. The quiet man just likes being around everyone. 

Erica comes down the stairs with an annoyed huff. “Why are we having a party for Jackson? He's a dick for leaving.”

Derek hangs his head. Erica has been even bitchier since she moved in. He had started fucking her just to shut her up. His biggest regret was hurting Stiles when he walked into their room. His boy had smelled so much like pain that Derek had wanted to die. Stiles probably would have helped him with that had he offered. Lydia's voice carries over the speakers on the laptop. “You don't seem to be doing anything. The rest of us are having a party. Cause the rest of the pack will miss him. Now I know that might be a foreign concept since your mate doesn't seem to miss you, but the rest of us are normal.”

Erica's control has never been the best. It's gotten worse since she got pregnant. She walks over and slams the laptop shut and throws it against the wall. Isaac yells out. “Erica! That is mine. What the fuck?”

Erica just growls and stalks out of the room. Isaac looks at him. “I'll get you a new one, Isaac. Don't worry. Just keep getting ready.”

Isaac goes back to getting food out while Derek goes after Erica. His wolf is whining at the mother of its pups distress. “Erica. Calm down. It's a good thing that Jackson is going, he's missed Lydia and it'll be a good for the relations between us and the Smith pack. Deal with it.” He orders. 

The party goes well after that. Scott shows up for the first time since Stiles moved out. His wolf loves having all of his wolves here. Other then Stiles being gone it almost feels like before. After the party only Boyd sticks around to clean up. Scott is gone as soon as he can leave. Derek asks Boyd to move in. It will calm Erica and keep the peace. 

Boyd looks uncomfortable. “Ahh, actually Derek. I don't want to be here that much. It's hard to watch you two act like a couple. I just can't. I'm sorry.”

He tells Boyd he understands and it's ok. Erica bitches at him for even offering. “You should have just told him to. Are you a fucking Alpha or not?”

He wants to ignore her. Since Stiles isn't here nothing feels real so it doesn't matter that she's pissed at him. She's not his mate so he doesn't have to give a fuck what she thinks. But he has to live with her. “He's free to live where he wants, just like you are.”

She rolls her eyes and goes to her room. 

Time passes slowly while Stiles is away. Derek drives Jackson to the airport and holds him so long some of the people watching must assume they're dating. He just hates the idea of his beta being so far away from him. Three weeks after his mate is gone Derek gets another hit of bad news. 

“DEREK!!!” Allison slams her way into the house. The pack had been out doing joint training drills with the hunters. It had been one of Stiles' ideas. Train together so when a threat happened the hunters would be used to trusting the wolfs working back to back. It had shown a lot of promise and there was a beginning of trust between the two sides. Stiles had explained that the bonds forged during a battle were stronger then almost any bonds. The original quote “blood is thicker than water” dates back to Roman times, to explain the comradeship that soldiers felt. Derek finds himself smiling, Stiles voice going off on a tangent in his head. He shakes the thought loose at the sight of Allison. She is full hunter garb and smells of pain and blood. 

“What the hell happened?” He growls moving close to her. The blood doesn't smell like hers but she smells like pain. “Did someone ambush you during training?”

“No, Erica attacked one of my hunters. We had finished training for the day and one of the guys make a joke about fighting with wolves instead of against and she fucking jumped on his back and started to tear him apart.” She runs her hand through her hair and Derek can smell the pain coming off of her. “If he dies from it, she will have broken the Code. As it stands, the treaty is voided. The terms were simple, we work together, we don't fight each other and everyone wins.”

Derek feels his knees go weak. The treaty was one of the few things that made his pack stand out. One of the things that kept other packs from thinking about invading and made other packs give his respect. Without it was going to be harder to keep the territory as it was. He wants to scream. “Allison think about what this will do to us.”

“You think this is what I want, Derek. I'm mated to two of your pack. I want you to be safe. But I am responsible for the care and training of my men. Just as you are with your Betas. I can't let something like this slide. If I don't show leadership now it'll show every other hunter group that I'm weak and they will come and wipe both of us out.” She has tears in her eyes. “This way the hunters here won't actively hunt you.” 

Derek wants to argue. He wants to shake her and tell her that her mates will be hurt by this when Boyd comes in with Erica. He can see her covered with blood and his first reaction is to run and grab her to make sure she and the pup are alright. When he has satisfied himself that she's ok, he growls and shakes her. “What the hell were you thinking?”

She growls back at him flashing her eyes. “He was mouthing off to me. Made a joke about helping the pups.”

Boyd makes a noise and they turn to him. “Stiles used to call us pups in front of the hunters. He said it was his way of making them less afraid of us.”

Derek actually whines. Of course his mate was working to make the hunters easier around them. Erica just growls. “Whatever. Stiles isn't here and that guy was a dick.”

Derek just feels tired. “Erica, if he dies you will have broken the code. They will come to hunt you and then I'll have to kill them to keep my child safe. And then every hunter in the state will come and put all of us down. So keep your mouth shut and pray he survives.”

Erica actually stomps up the stairs and slams the door. Allison mutters “spoiled bitch.” Making Derek growl in defense of the wolf carrying his pup. “Keep her in line Alpha Hale.”

Boyd looks shaken. Derek remembers that Erica is his mate. He have pictures of them at their senior prom on his wall. He puts his hand on Boyd's shoulder to give him comfort. “Whatever happens, I won't let hunters come for my pack. Pack is family. You do what you have to for family.”

Boyd shudders and puts his head on Derek's shoulder. Taking comfort from his Alpha. “Hasn't felt like a family in a while.”

“We'll get back there. I swear, Boyd. Every family has rough patches.” Derek scent marks Boyd settling both of their wolves. 

It turns out the hunter is ok. He's going to have some glorious scars. He goes to the hospital to see him. He walks into the room and is struck by how young the boy looks. The second is the smell of Stiles. He's been there. The hunter looks calm but Derek and anyone listening can hear the heart monitor giving away how nervous he is. “Alpha Hale. Nice of you to come see me.”

“I wanted to make sure you were ok and to extend the apologies of the entire pack. What Erica did was unforgivable and I can only hope you can forgive it.” The Alpha wants to howl and rip apart this threat to his pack. But he knows he has to stay calm. And why the fuck was Stiles here?

Now the hunter looks even younger and runs his hand through his short spiked hair that reminds Derek of Stiles. “Ahh, yeah. It's ok. Ahh, Stiles was here earlier. He gave me crap for teasing a pregnant lady. He told me that it was kinda stupid of me. But we had done so many exercises with you guys that I thought she'd be cool with it.”

Derek wants to hang his head and cry. Even when he's gone his mate is helping his pack. “So Stiles was here?” 

“Yeah, he wanted to check on me and already has two doctors that his new Alpha and the Matriarch of the Garcia territory have signed off on for my rehab. It'll take some time but I will be able to hunt again.” The young man says with a smile. “He was in town for work and stopped in. I'm going to be transferred down there next week.”

Derek actually fights a howl of despair at the idea of someone so casually mentioning Stiles having a new Alpha. He had hoped that Stiles would come home but if he has a new Alpha he's there for a while. “I'm glad he's made plans for you. Will you join the hunters there?”

Now the hunter seems relaxed and happy. “Yeah, Stiles is working on a treaty between the Garcia's and the Benoits there. He says he made them come over to his house for dinner and started the process.” The hunter blushes. How young is this kid? “Stiles says they both have huge brass lady balls. So they get along. But don't worry Alpha Hale, we won't hunt your mate. I'm just going to leave the territory.” 

Derek wants to growl that she's not his mate but he doesn't want to rock the boat now that his pack seems safe. The hunter smells like pain and insecurity. Derek has a urge to scent mark him so he smells better but all he does is put his hand on the young mans shoulder and nods his head. He leaves the boy in his bed and heads home. 

Isaac is there watching some tv. He looks nervous as Derek walks in. “They aren't going to hunt Erica.” Derek watches his beta relax and fidget. “What?”

“Nothing. Just happy that we're ok.” He can hear the lie in Isaac's heartbeat. He raises his eyebrows in a question. “Ok, Allison is working and I didn't want to be alone at the house.”

Derek knows his beta still has some issues being alone. He's still the most sensitive of the pack. He one time came home and found Stiles cuddling with the wolf watching a comic book movie. He growled at his beta touching his mate so much. Then Stiles had thrown a book at his head and told him to leave his puppy alone. Shaking the happy memory out of his head he gets a light scent of Stiles off of the beta. Before he can stop himself he's slammed Isaac against the wall and has his face buried in the wolf scarf. “Stiles” he breaths out. His mate scent is perfect. 

“Ahh yeah, he and Scott are hanging out. That's why I'm alone now.” Isaac doesn't try to push his Alpha off. “He wore my scarf for a while, he was teasing me.”

Derek pulls back. “He's still in town?”

Isaac rolls his eyes, the confidence they've been working on coming out. “Yeah Derek, he still works part time in town and his dad is here. He was at his office this morning, he drove in, Allison told him about the hunter and he went to go talk to him. He said he and Conner here close, they had done some training together.”

Derek wants to growl at his beta. His mate shouldn't be close to a hunter. Isaac' scent turns sour. “What is it?”

“He asked me to pick up some more of his cloths.” Isaac looks at the ground showing his submission. 

“Isaac, what are you leaving out?” He moves closer and can smell the distress on the wolf. 

“He smells like other wolves, like a lot. He said he's living with two of them.” Isaac whimpers. “I know he's coming back when he gets his masters, but I don't think he'll join the pack again. The Garcia pack made him an official offer to join them.”

Derek actually feels the ground move and then he's on his knees looking up at the blond. “He's going to come back eventually Isaac. He did and Scott are here. He'll come back.”

He's not sure who he's trying to convince but it seems to do the trick for Isaac. They go upstairs and Derek helps pack a couple bags for Stiles. He wants his mate to be happy. After Issac leaves he can hear Erica sleeping down the hall. She had whined when he had put her in a different room. In case Stiles came for a visit he didn't want her in his room. Moving to his bad he pulls out a zip lock back with a towel in it. It was Stiles idea when he had been away at school. He had used the towel to clean up after his nightly jack off sessions with Derek over Skype and then mailed it to him. He had never had the desire to wash it. Taking it out the pungent scent of his mates release filled his room, speeding the blood flow to his cock making it harden quickly. 

Laying on his back with the towel over his face he pulled his cock out and started to slide his dry hand up and down his now rock hard cock. Picturing all the times he had Stiles like this, wishing he had appreciated the times he had with his mate more. He cums faster then he has in weeks. Carefully he puts the towel back into the ziplock bag, not wanting to mix up his mates scent. With the after glow fading he feels a wave of guilt hit him. It's his fault that Kate got so close to his family. Had he not been fucking her then they would have scented a human in the woods and been on high alert. Instead they had smelled someone who had been intimate with Derek and not looked to closely into the matter. Wanted to keep some semblance of privacy. And they had burned. 

Now his pack was slowly fracturing under his leadership. Scott would go with Allison if she decided to truly break ties with them and Isaac would probably go with them. He wouldn't even make the wolf have to pick, it was a no brainer, you go with your mate. God, he starts to shake. He should have gone with his mate. Giving into the sadness he starts to cry like he hasn't since the night he came home to find his home and family in a blazing inferno. He falls asleep sobbing hoping it well get better but knowing it will get worse.


	7. Chapter 7

Stiles pulls up to his new home for a while. It's a simple three bedroom house a couple blocks from campus. He had hung out here enough before he graduated that it already felt like home. His dad pulled up behind him a minute later smiling brightly at his son. He had been so proud that he was going back to school. His mom had earned her masters while Stiles was still young, he didn't have any memories other then pictures of her in her cap and gown holding a little version of him. Since then his dad had always emphasized how important a good education was in this world. His was doubly proud that he was doing it while working. 

“You have everything you need, son?” His dad asks as he pats him on the shoulder. “It looks like a nice place to live.”

“I won't be here all the time, Dad. I'll still be coming up every couple weeks to work at the office so don't think you can suddenly start eating take out and not following your diet plan. Doctor Jones said your cholesterol was up last check up. And you need keep active. Melissa said you guys were going to join a spin class.” He smiles at the look of annoyance on his dad face. “Come on. Sam texted me a little while ago and said she ordered pizzas for my first night here. She got you a veggie.”

He laughs as his dad grumbles. They each heft a large back and head up the walkway to the house. His dads voice comes from behind him. “So this Sam, she's a..”

“Werewolf? Yup. Her mom is the Alpha of this area and one of the profs at the university.” He turns his head and looks at his dads face. He still looks a little green when they bring up the non-human side of Stiles life. “And I'm sure she's been listening to this whole conversation since most wolves have horrible boundaries.”

He laughs as he hears a loud yell from the house. “Stiles, stop bad talking me to your dad.” Sam opens the door. She's easily an inch taller then Stiles and looks like Jessica Alba, dark wavy hair and exotic cocoa skin. Stiles will admit now that he's single that he had some major fantasies about her when they first met. Now he just felt something fond and nice in his chest at the sight of her. 

“Well, get out here with all that feminine strength and help us with the bags. Come on Rosie.” he laughs and moves passed her into the house. 

His dad asks the room. “Rosie?”

Sam smiles and hold her hands to take the bag from John. “It's for Rosie the Riveter. I had a poster of her in my dorm room when Stiles met me. It's been a running joke since. It's nice to meet you Mr Stilinski. Can I help you with that bag?”

“Ah no thanks, I'm not as old and falling apart as Stiles likes to tell people. I can still run a mile without it winding me too bad. It's nice to meet you Sam. And please, call me John.” He puts the bag down and shakes Sam's hand. 

“High cholesterol dad. You can't run away from that.” He snarks back at him. 

His dad rolls his eyes in a classic Stilinski fashion. They move into what is going to be Stiles room. There is an old desk and a small twin bed. Sam comes up behind them. “A twin was all I could get in short notice. It was in our garage back at my moms. She sent some sheets and a blanket too. It'll work until we can get to the store and get you a real bed. The desk was donated by my brother. Well I'm sure it would have been donated if I had told him I was taking it, but that's what he gets for 'storing' it in my old room for three years.”

Stiles smiles at her comments. It was one of the amazing things about join the pack, it had been like having a huge family. He sighs lightly at the ache in his chest at the thought of his pack, he let himself feel the pain of not having Derek but then let his mind take over and remind him of all the shitty things he had had to put up with. Turning to Sam “Thanks. This is awesome. We can hit Ikea for a new bed next weekend. I think it'll be too busy the first week getting everything in order and getting used to classes and work.”

Sam nods hear head and thankfully doesn't make a big deal of how he must smell. Having friends who can smell when you're upset is something that he has not gotten used to. His dad lets some of his inner cop out and starts interrogating Sam. “So Sam, what are you studying?”

She smiles and Stiles again thinks that wolves must have insanely sexy genes. “Well, John. I'm studying environmental law with an emphasis on land use and preservation.” 

Stiles drones them out while he makes the bed. Letting his mind relax for the first time in a long while. He's not a leader here. He just has to help if ask and get his job done while going to school. A self indulgent voice in his mind whispers that this time he can actually have more of a social life this time since he'll be single. The night passes in friendly conversation while Sam and Stiles catch up on all the local gossip and stay away from any scary topics. 

“So Sam, why did you pick environmental law?” His dad asks. 

Sam smiles. “Well, after Stiles negotiated the last treaty, we realized we got the short end of the stick. So my mom convinced me that someone would need better legal skills in the pack. Plus the environmental law profs at Berkeley are basically rock stars.” 

Stiles laughs at her tone. He was proud of his treaty with the Garcia's. It had kicked ass, it used the support of the hunters to make the Hale pack seem like a much stronger ally. But in reality the Garcia's had their own hunter clan, the Reniers, another french family, in the area. They could have their own hunters backing them up if they wanted. His smiles proudly at him but with a weird look in his eyes. The idea that his son was helping lead a wolf pack still seemed to blow his dads mind. He steers the conversation back toward nicer things until they go to bed, Stiles crashing on the couch while his dad sleeps in his little twin bed. 

His dad tears up a little when they say goodbye in the morning. Stiles will swear on a stack of bibles that his eyes stay dry. But he'd be a lying liar who lies. He promises to call all the time and to visit on days he's up there for work. They hug in a manly way as they part. He watches his dads cruiser pull away. He unpacks and only lets a couple tears go at the feeling of being alone when Sam comes into his room and drags him to her moms house to hang out with the pack. His weekend in his new place is spent at the pack house eating and watching the first three Star Wars movies. He takes a liking to Nicole, an omega from a small pack in Arizona that was staying with the Garcia's while she was pregnant. 

“Oh god that one was so bad. Jarjar binx can suck it.” Nicole takes the words right out of Stiles mouth. 

“Nothing will be better then the original trilogy. Why did we watch that anyway?” Stiles asks the room. It's a mix of age ranges. Some of the older wolfs are laughing at the younger. There are a nice mix of humans there. It feels really good. Relaxed in a way that he hasn't felt in a long time. 

“So that next week when we watch the holy trilogy the children will appreciate it more.” Nicole leans in and tells him. She makes a haughty face that makes all the kids in the room giggle. Stiles noticed when there were introductions that the daddy of the yet unborn baby is not mentioned. He afraid to ask. 

On Sunday he and Sam are getting ready to head back to their place when Alpha Garcia stops the at the door. She hands them leftovers in Tupperware. “Now Sam, don't forget that your brother is coming back from visiting packs back east next week. He was planning on living with you two, so you might want to tell Stiles.”

Sam blushes. “Oh crap. Sorry Stiles. I was going to tell you that. It'll help with the rent” 

Stiles laughs at her. “It's ok. It's a three bedroom house. Unless he's big in to parties, cause that could suck with work and school.”

Alpha Garcia laughs at him now. “No, he's more of a quiet type. He's going to be getting his masters as well. MBA. He's been fooling around with other packs for the past couple years so I finally put my foot down and called him home to get serious. He and Sam have the same personalities so you'll be fine.”

He nods his head in respect to the Alpha before they leave and thanks for the extra food. He and Sam drive home in comfortable silence. For a second he thinks she seems a lot like Boyd. Shaking his head he clears that thought and gets ready for school the next day. Before he heads off to bed he asks “hey, what is your brothers name? You've never talked about him much.”

“Oh, his name is Miguel but he goes by Mike.” She laughs at Stiles open mouth. He had told her about making Derek strip for Danny in high school. “I told him about that so he might tease you.”

He laughs and yells a good night down the hall as he climbs into bed. He'll need his rest for tomorrow. 

 

Fuck. He was right. Getting up early to get to class in time and then coming home and getting his work done for the day was fucking tiring. He was used to juggling so much but there was a sense of urgency in working and going to school. He makes sure to hang out with Nicole a couple times during the week. He was secretly happy that he didn't have to add on his responsibilities as an Alpha's mate. So he was a little miffed when he didn't make a full week when he got a call from a number he didn't know. 

“Hello” He was an idiot for picking up. 

“Stiles Stilinski?” A brusque female voice came on the line. 

“Ah yes, who is this?” He really should never pick up the phone again.

“This is Vola Benoits. Chris Argent gave me your number. I'd like to discuss something with you. Are you free for dinner?” Her voice moved over any objections he could think of , which was how he found himself sitting in a relaxed diner sitting with a formal looking woman. He had of course texted Sam with the address he was going to be at and the number of Vola Benoits. He wasn't a total idiot. 

“This place has the best chilli cheese fries in the world. Promise not to tell any of my hunters?” A small smirk breaks through the facade. She's late forties with silvering hair. She carries herself with self confidence and Stiles automatically puts her on the Don't Fuck With list. 

They order really terrible awesome food. “So what can I do to help you?”

“Well, it has been brought to my attention that the hunter and the Hale pack had an unconventional relationship that was beneficial to both sides. I've been wondering if a similar agreement would help my hunters become better.” She gives him a blank face. 

“So you're a werewolf hunter who leads werewolf hunters and you want to team up with werewolves?” He doesn't bother to keep the doubt out of his voice. 

She smiles again and he can see a person behind the mask of leadership. “To put it bluntly, yeah. We had a joint training exercise and everyone of the Argents hunters beat the tar out of mine. It was mildly embarrassing to say the least. Besides, the Garcia pack has broken the Code exactly three times in the past hundred years. None of my hunters fear the local wolves and it clearly is showing in their training. I'm not saying we want to be as close as the Hale pack and Argents are, I'm don't think any of my hunters want to date any of the Garcia pack, but I think an alliance could be beneficial to both sides.”

He agrees with her but there are some issues. “You do realize I'm not part of the Garcia pack and if I was, I'm not the Alpha's mate, I have no say in what goes on in the pack?”

She gives him a look that on a normal person would probably be sympathy but on her face it just seems like interest. “I do. But I also know that you're living with the Alpha's daughter and that you have a great track record of bargaining for a pack. I'm not saying you have any power in it, just to bring it to Alpha Garcia's notice and we can discuss it more than. Think about it.”

They finish eating and talk about local things to do. Vola gives him the name of a good bar for relaxing that the hunters frequent. She tells him to bring some wolves so they can start to mingle. He rolls his eyes, “yeah, cause adding fear and beer will help us.”

She laughs as he walk off. But on the walk to his car he thinks about it and it would actually probably be fun to see what happens. 

“How'd it go?” Sam pops up next to him. He does not flail and almost fall over. 

“I swear I'm putting a bell on you.” he catches his breath. “It went ok. She wants me to ask your mom if we can all train together.”

She makes a shocked face then seems appraising. “Hmm. Will you tell my mom?”

“Of course, I'm not going to hold something like that from my Alpha. I mean the local Alpha.” He turns red as she laughs at him. “Damn Freudian slip.”

“Tell her tomorrow. You're coming for dinner right? My brother should be getting back tomorrow so you can meet him.” He nods his head. He had planned on going straight from Beacon Hills to the Garcia house. He had a work meeting in the morning, it was only a little over an hour drive, then spend time with Scott and his dad and head back for dinner here. 

His Friday goes just like he wanted. It was good to see all his co-workers. His boss tells him his work is great and to keep it up. His yells at his dad when he sees him reaching for a doughnut and tells Scott all about school and the Garcia pack while they play video games. Isaac and Allison both tease them bout acting like teens. They high fived over that one. “You look good man. Like happy good.”

He looked at Scott. “I am man. Now look back the the screen cause I'm about to kill you and there I go.”  
Scott whines that he wasn't ready. Stiles lets Isaac and Scott scent mark the crap out of him before he heads to dinner at the Garcia pack. His drive is nice and relaxed. He still feels pain when he thinks about Derek but everything is just a little bit easier when he's not waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's dropped. And Stiles is still alive. The Garcia house is full as he is let in by Nicole who jokes the he smells like a dog. 

“Ah Stiles, come and meet your new roommate.” Alpha Garcia's voice carries from the living room. He heads in there with a smile on his face but stops the second he sees the insanely hot man standing next to the Alpha. He's a little over six food with broad shoulders. He looks like a darker version of Derek. While Derek had pale skin and green eyes. This man had deep dark eyes that held warm and affection. “Stiles this is my son, Mike.”

He can sound mildly exasperated at the name. Stiles holds out his hand to shake the mans hand. But instead of saying a greeting, “Holy crap are all werewolves hot? I mean, it's nice to meet you.”

Mike laughs and shakes his hand. “It's nice to meet you too.”

Everyone politely lets it slide and they have a nice dinner with Nicole and him discussing how awesome Buffy the Vampire Slayer is and him telling her they should have a marathon of it soon. He realizes that he might have found a soul mate in her. He relaxes into the easy conversation among the pack. He tells Alpha Garcia about the hunters when he is leaving. She agrees to think about it and he gives her Vola Benoits number. Mike comes home with Sam and him. 

Sam goes to bed after throwing an extra pillow and blanket at her brother. “ahh, why don't you sleep at the house until we can get you a bed?”

Mike smiles at him as he makes a bed on the couch. “Nicole is sleeping in my bed. I'll pick a new bed tomorrow. You want to help me? I could carry it by myself but it's an awkward shape.” 

Stiles rolls his eyes. “Sure, and you carrying it by yourself would look weird.”

Stiles went to bed that night feeling better then he had in years.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick chapter, sorry it's not longer but I just had this scene in my head for a while. It's mostly Derek and Erica bashing but I wanted to show some of the hardships the Hale pack was going through.

Derek was fuming. They had just meeting with the Jarik pack. Derek had fond memories of the Jarik pack from his childhood. They were a married Alpha pair, just like his parents, they had been strong allies of the Hale pack and close friends with his mother. When he had reestablished his pack Stiles had helped write their alliance agreement. It was up every two years so they could reevaluate their needs. Derek had brought the same treaty Stiles had written before, but the Jarik Alphas hadn't even bothered to look at it. Derek had thought bringing Erica would have helped the process. Showing a pregnant beta would show the stability and longevity of the pack. Of course said pregnant beta had made annoyed and insulting comments from the moment the negotiations started. 

He had finally ordered Isaac and Scott to escort her out of the room. Alpha Jarik made a forced laugh and sipped tea that she had brought out for them to enjoy. “Ahh, I remember how volatile I was during my pregnancies, the smallest thing could set me off. Right, dear?”

Her mate laughed and leaned in to nuzzle her. “You don't expect me to answer that do you?”

“Smart man.” She smiles and then turns back to negotiations. 

Derek envies the easy way they act with each other. Derek takes a deep break to settle himself. “Yes, she is more volatile then usual but she does bring up a good concern. Two years ago we were less settled and you we willing to sign a mutual defense treaty with us. Now you're agreeing to less, just a not aggression pact. Her anger is justified.”

Both of the Jarik Alpha's eyes turn hard making Derek feel like a kid again when he had messed up. “Two years ago you brought more to the table so we offered more. You bring less now, so we offer less. Previously you brought a small pack, but you had a youthful energy that was charming. You had an alliance with hunters making your pack something to fear. And you had a resourceful mate who's strategic planning made your pack something to recon with, no matter what your size was. Now you've lost the hunters from a dangerous blunder from the beta now carrying your child. Four of your pack have fled your territory, yes yes, I know your beta followed his mate to college but gone is still gone. And your little hunter beta, she might still be mated to two of your pack but her hunter will not be helping you again, and it was a near thing that the hunters didn't decide to hunt your own pack. And your mate left because you were dumb enough to know one of your betas up. And now after some embarrassing failures that your pack only survived because of the quick thinking of your now non-existent mate you're here whining about us not wanting to be force to get involved in your screw ups? Get over yourself.”

Derek can feel his claws itching to come out but he knows he'd be killed instantly. “Derek, I'm saying this as someone who knew and respected your mother, get your house in order. I cannot and will not endanger my pack by making them fight your battles when there is no guarantee that having your at our back will even help us. It is an Alpha's duty to do what is best for their pack, a mutual defense pact is something that will not benefit or increase the safety of my pack. To be brutally honest, and this is not a threat in any way, if I was an Alpha looking to expand my pack, your territory would be my first choice of targets. Your pack smells like desperation and anger. You're not a united front.”

Derek growls low in his chest. All of his mistakes laid out in front of him has him wanting to howl in rage. Instead he holds it together enough to finalize the agreement before he loses it. Walking back to the rest of his pack. Erica, Boyd, Isaac and Scott. Scott stands off with Isaac while Boyd seems to be trying to comfort an annoyed looked Erica. He silently nods to them as an order that it was time to leave. They walk out and Scott and Isaac get into their car and Boyd and Erica get into his car. They drive for almost an hour in silence before Boyd break it. “At least they aren't going to attack us.”

Erica sneers at him. “Like they'd ever do that. They liked Derek's parents. They aren't going to kill a man they remember as a child.”

Derek growls, “Yes, but they won't help us in any way. We needed this alliance. Fuck.”

Derek desperately wants to change the fucking topic. Looking in the mirror he notices that Boyd isn't looking at either of them. Erica has even begun to stop smelling like the other wolf. “How have you been Boyd? I haven't gotten to spend any time with you lately.”

The other man looks down in hesitation. “Umm, I've been spending more time with Isaac and Scott. It's nice getting to bond with them again. We've been doing a lot more activities together. They've been pushing me to ask this girl from their favorite bar out. I think I might.”

Derek knows that since Erica moved in a couple months ago that she and Boyd had a cooling off in their relationship but he assumed it was still going. Erica doesn't make any noises but he can hear her heart beat speed up like she's upset. He wants to comfort her. Looks fondly at the baby bump on her stomach. Taking a deep breath of her scent that is smelling more and more like home he glances back at Boyd. “Do you think it's smart to date right now? There is a lot going on. Plus, is she the type of person you could bring into the pack?”

He hates trying to manipulate his beta but he really doesn't want to upset Erica right now. “Well, I'm not really looking to date, but it's been a while.”

Derek doesn't have to read between the lines. He can smell the sexual frustration on his beta over the past couple weeks. He just grunts a noncommittal answer and goes back to driving. Erica rolls her eyes and sneers at the whole situation. Derek again has to imagine holding his future child to keep from breaking her arm at the show of disobedience. This day sucked. He drives back to his territory again wishing that he had never bitten Erica.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to get good for Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for how long it's taken me to update this. Recently had some set backs in my life so wasn't in a very good mood to write. I swear I'll be working harder to update all my stories.

Stiles opened the door while holding four grocery bags. He did a little cheer for how awesome that was while holding his school bag too. The smell of spaghetti hits his noise. Having roommates who like to cook is amazing. “Thank god, I got out of class late and was starved.”

Sam greets him with a smile. “Did you get the garlic bread?”

“Of course. I got extra pasta too. I know how much you wolves eat.” He says with a laugh. He starts unpacking the bags and putting the food away. He passes the calender on the wall and almost face plants. He's been here three months. “Holy shit, have I really been living here three months?”

Mike huffs an amused laugh at him. “Yes Stiles. You've been here three months. You're almost done with this term. Have you really not been paying attention?”

“Ahh.” He knows he making an open mouth fish face from the way the siblings are laughing at him. “Whatever.”

They both roll their eyes. “Come on. Get the bread in the oven. The pasta is already boiling so will be done soon. The bread tastes better right out of the oven.”

They move around the kitchen getting dinner ready with practiced ease of being roommates. Mike moves behind him pouring out the pasta in a strainer while he pulls the bread together. He smiles privately when Mike places his hands and Stiles hips to move him away from the oven. He moves away and Mike puts the steaming noodles into the pot of spaghetti. Sam smirks at him as he passes by her. “I'm going to wash up. Sam, you can pick the movie tonight.”

When he gets back into the kitchen Sam is walking out with a plate of food with that annoying smirk again. “Here you go Stiles.”

Mike hands him a plate with the garlic bread. “Thanks man.”

They walk into the into the living room together and Stiles wants to do a fist bump at the beginning scene of The Avengers. “God I love living with geeks.”

They settle into their Friday tradition of food and a movie. He gets in his spot next to Mike on the couch. Soon after their food is gone his feet are up in the wolfs lap. He is a little blown away with how comfortable he has become with these two wolves. By the end of the movie their dishes are in the sink and Mike is rubbing his feet. He knows he's making obscene sex noises when Sam throws a pillow at him.

“I can't help it. I was all over campus today. And you werewolves have super awesome hands.” He whines. Mike winks at him while Sam rolls her eyes. Mike goes back to work on his feet. After about ten more minutes Sam gives them a weird look and then goes to her room with a muttered complaint. Stiles gives Mike a questioning look until the man moves his hands up to Stiles' calves a pushes his thumbs deep releasing stress and making Stiles arch up off the couch with a deep moan. 

Mike laughs and says in a deep voice. “God it's fun to play with you.”

“Fuck that feels good.” Stiles knows he sounds like a porn, but he doesn't care. 

Mike moves him onto his side and slides behind him engulfing him in the wolf's heat. “You should go lay down and I'll find the oil and rub your back.”

Stiles loves feeling all the heat from the larger mans body all around him. But he can also feel his heart speed up. He and Mike had been slowly flirting more and more. Mike was making his intentions very clear. He had made sure Stiles got to see him walk naked from the bathroom multiple times in the past months. Stiles actually started to drool one of the time. He had to fight himself from dropping to his knees and worshiping the sex god in front of him. Mike had taken a deep breath and smiled in a way that made Stiles actually feel scared. Than of course Mike had blushed and then darted into the bathroom again, seconds later Sam had walked into the house. 

Stiles adjusted his hardened cock before scrambling down the hall to his room, dropping pieces of clothing as he goes. When he makes it to his bed he's only wearing underwear. He spays himself out on the blanket stretching his sore muscles. The door opens and he hears Mike chuckle. “What a gorgeous sight. You should always be like this.”

Stiles looks back smirking at the man. Mike flashes his gold eyes and smiles showing a flash of fangs. He's also completely nude. Oh god he can feel himself flush. He might have a bit of a werewolf kink. Mike moves on top of him. 

“Holy crap, that's cold.” Stiles almost jumps up. The oil was freezing. 

“Sorry, it'll warm up in a minute.” Then Mike starts to move his hands all over Stiles back. Stiles just lays there and gives into the strong hands kneading away stress and popping his spine. He's not sure how long it goes on until Mike starts to pull his underwear, he stops halfway. “Is this ok?”

Stiles paused for a minute to think about this, his first sexual encounter since Derek. He nods his head yes. He trusts Mike. He doesn't get to think much more when Mike bites gently down on his ass making him yip and arch his back. Mike chuckles and before Stiles can snap at him he feels something hot and wet on his hole. “Oh god.”

He whines as Mike spreads his cheeks and licks again. Derek has never liked doing this with him. Mike did it like he was trying to eat his way through Stiles. He sends a prayer to the roommate gods that Sam will not give him too much crap and gives to the noises that are begging to come out of his mouth. Grabbing the sheets with both hands. “Oh fuck, oh god. Please don't stop. Fuck, it's so good.”

He almost screams when Mike pushes two fingers into him and spreads him quickly. “Can't wait. I'll be gently next time.”

“Please, yes need it deep.” In the hazy sex addled brain he knows he's sounding like a bad porn, but fuck it, Mikes tongue is made for sin. He looks back and Mike is lubing up his cock while looking at Stiles hole. His teeth are sharp and his eyes glowing. Stiles shudders and lets his body go limp and give into Mikes fingers inside him, letting the stretch push him to the brink of cumming. “Please.”

“Lie still baby.” Mike moves up his back until he can set his teeth on Stiles' neck. Stiles knew it was a wolf thing, getting your partner to submit, that your partner trusted you to take care of them. Stiles shuddered again as Mike let a deep growl loose from his chest shoving the first couple inches of his thick cock into Stiles wet hole. Stile buried his face into the blanket to keep from sobbing in joy at the feeling. When the burn of being penetrated fades Stiles whines and arches back so Mike can slide deeper which causes the wolf to laugh. “Hmm, should have known you'd be a slut for my cock, baby.”

Stiles practically keens at the dirty talk but a part of him feels apprehensive about the pet name. They haven't gone on a real date so he's sure they're not supposed to be there yet. But he's so turned on he doesn't say anything to stop the sex. Stiles gives in and lets Mike start to speed up and shove deeper and hard into him. Stiles has no idea how long he's under Mike because all he can feel is the friction of the sheets on his hard cock and the hot hard as steel rod pounding into him while he moans and pants. He's only brought back to the moment when he feels something start to stretch his ass even more. Oh fuck, Mike is going to knot him. He starts to pull himself away from the wolf not wanting to be knotted, it's been months, his poor ass can't take it. Plus he knows what it means to the wolf. 

“Nope, baby. You're gonna take it and it's gonna feel so good. Gonna make you cum, baby.” Stiles can feel Mikes hands on his shoulders pull him back as Mike shoves deep pushing his knot into Stiles. He screams as the knot grinds against his prostate making him cum all over the sheets under him. After that everything is hazy. When he comes to he's on his side with Mike holding him tight and nuzzling his face into Stiles neck. Stiles falls asleep feeling sex drunk. 

When he wakes up his bed is empty. He looks at the clock and it's morning. Getting dressed he heads into the kitchen where he can smell food and coffee. Mike is making eggs. “Hey dude. How did you sleep?”

Stiles makes a little nod trying to talk but for once in his life he can't. He can't make himself ruin the night before, because he's not ready to date, not really. He was practically married to Derek and he's not ready to move on. He wants to be, so much but he's not ready yet. Than he feels Mikes arm around him. “Hey Stiles, breath with me. It's ok. Don't freak out.”

They move slowly to the ground and Mike pulls him onto the wolfs lap. He breaths with Mike until he's ok. “So, you want to talk about last night?”

“Yeah man. I do. It was fun but when you knotted me. Man, I know what that means. And I'm so not really for that kind of commitment. Hell, I'm just trying to get a handle on thinks and I can't do that to you.” Stiles starts to babble. 

Mike laughs at him. “Stiles breath. I know I should have asked before knotting you but I was too turned on. And I know you're not ready for that type of commitment. I know. Don't worry. I just like being able to let that side of myself out during sex. It's hard holding back with humans and knowing I don't have to with you is a fucking turn on.” 

Stiles feels his heart beat slow down. “So you're ok that we won't be dating?” 

Mike smiles a huge smile that lights up his entire face. “Yes Stiles. I'm ok with with not dating. But we are going to keep fucking. Next time you can fuck me.”

Stiles sputters and makes his classic open mouth face that makes Mike laugh at him again. Sam comes walking into the kitchen and laughs at them. “If you guys are done angsting I'm hungry. Also, mom wants to talk to Stiles today.”

“What about?” Now that he's not freaking out over a relationship he sounds cool and more collected. While trying to think about what their mother would want to discuss with him. Nothing comes to mind. 

“Well, she didn't tell not to tell you, so ok. She wants you to do the negotiations for the new agreement with the Hale pack.” Her voice holds compassion but he can tell she's curious about his response. 

He freezes but he understands why she would want him to write out the new treaty. He has intimate knowledge of his previous pack. And a dark jealous voice in his mind whispers how fun it would be to piss off Derek. But he thought he could argue rationally and hope to protect the Hale pack as much as he could. He had helped make the Garcia pack stronger with the alliance with the Benoits hunters so he could argue about strengthening the relationship between the Hale pack with an offer of joint training sessions if they got a chunk of territory that the Hale pack had been neglecting. 

“He'll do it. He's making his serious thought face. Ok, now you were making bacon brother mine. Get back to it, I'm hungry.” Sam moves by with a bored face to pour herself some coffee. “Eat up guys. We'll head over to the house later.” 

Stiles picks himself off of Mike and gets some food. “We should shower too.”

Sam laughs. “Please, everyone is going to be able to smell what you did.”

Stiles blushes and eats his breakfast while chatting with the siblings. Sam doesn't bring up his freak out or the sex again. They get ready and pile into his jeep and head to the pack house. He drives while thinking about work and what he has to get done this week for it. He has a meeting back in Beacon Hills this week about a new subdivision that is going in, there are a ton of permits for everything from building codes to drainage for water run off. Stiles is going to be swamped with it for the next couple months, but yay for job security. They pull into the pack house while the siblings tease each other. 

They head in and Stiles blushes at the first couple cat calls from the pack and then Alpha Garcia walks down the stairs to greet them. She hugs all of them and smirks at Stiles with a comment about bathing more. Stiles turns beet red. “Yeah, we were in a hurry.”

“Well, we have a lot to discuss. Let's go to the study.” They move as a group and some of the higher up wolfs come with them. They all sit around the main desk. Stiles glances around and is reminded that she is a college professor. There isn't a wall that doesn't have a bookshelf on it. And each shelf is overflowing with books. “Ok, so for starters. Congratulations, we've all been waiting for this and I luckily won the pool. So thanks.”

Stiles huffs out a strangled noise. But everyone is smiling warmly at the joke. “You're welcome.”

“Now down to business. I would like you to negotiate with your former pack. I truly do want us to have an alliance but since their pack has become so weakened I cannot risk mine in an agreement of mutual assistance. If they declare war on another pack we would be drawn into a war needlessly. But we still will train with them. But I would like a part of their territory, I’ve had my wolves patrolling a section of that they have been neglecting. There hasn't been any sign that they've been patrolling it themselves. And with our pack growing we can use the extra territory. They won't even miss it.” She looks down and Stiles can tell her next request is going to hurt. “We are gaining two new members. A young couple.”

Stiles doesn't need her to keep going. They only couple that would upset him is Jackson and Lydia. “Lydia got a job at UC Berkeley.” He doesn't make it a question. 

Alpha Garcia smiles at his statement. “Yes, Miss Martin has been offered a position teaching at the university and they have asked to join my pack. I have accepted. They will be moving here once she has finished her PHD. I've already told the Boston Alpha that they are now under my protection. But their situation is a bit precarious without Hale's agreement that he's letting them go. We'll notify him when we do the negotiations in three days.”

Stiles takes a steadying breath. He can do this. It's no longer his responsibility to make sure Derek isn't fucking up his life. Nicole comes waddling into the study. She looks ready to give birth. Stiles gets up to help her sit down. She scent marks him as he pulls away. He smiles at how normal he finds being rubbed against. “Now Nicole has a request for you as well.”

Seriously, one more shock is going to make him run. “What now?” He asks. 

Alpha Garcia makes that smirk again and starts talking. “Well, when Nicole came to us she was an omega going through multiple territories. She and her mate did the right thing and kept requesting permission. With the death of her mate she decided to stay until she gave birth. But it was never her plan to stay indefinitely.”

Stiles new this part. Nicole and her mate had been on their way to joining a back and had wanted to travel before they settled down with a child. His death was a huge shock. Random stupid hunters had messed up and thought they were rogues. The hunters had been killed but he was still dead. 

He moved into nuzzled Nicole's neck in sympathy. Alpha Garcia clears her throat gently. “As I said, her plan was to move on with her child. But the pack she was going to join is more volatile. They recently broke off of a more established pack and have a very young Alpha. A less than great fit for a young couple with a baby but with the two of them they would have added some stability to the pack.”

Stiles thinks he's missing something. He knows that he might spend all his time with werewolves but he wasn't raised so some of their culture still goes over his head. He turns to Nicole. “What she is trying to say is that I won't be able to fight for the level I deserve or help the pack become stable if I'm raising a newborn. And while she offered me a position here, it would be years and many intense challenges before I would rise in this hierarchy. I still want my chance to become a leader.”

Now Stiles really is missing something and it's a something that is making everyone in the room look at him. With a look like their expecting him to say something. “What?”

Nicole looks tired now. “I want you to raise my child.”

Stiles thinks he must be hearing things and wants to ask her to repeat that but all that comes out of his mouth is “What the Fuck?”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick chapter from Derek's POV.

Derek was not in a good mood. Erica was whining that no one was around them. Her instincts telling her to surround herself with pack. Derek fondly thinks about the times when his relatives were having a child and how all the pack wanted to be around them all the time. It had felt so good to see his family, his pack, all together. But when Erica had asked the others to be around more Scott and Isaac has just flatly refused. Boyd had tried to be around more but he said watching Erica with Derek was too hard. He had only stayed an hour before rolling his eyes and walking out. Erica had been all over Derek, he was annoyed but smelling her pregnant with his cub had made him feel the need to be close to her. 

Derek was on the couch holding her when he heard Peter's car coming down the road. His uncle had been away from months trying to reconnect with his old friends. It was a secondary way of trying to get alliances with other packs. He had gotten good news in the start of Peter's trip than his uncle had started to send drearier and drearier reports of other packs wanting nothing to do with his pack. And speak of the devil. He watches from the window as Peter get out of his car and comes into the house. 

“So nephew. What's new?” His uncle looks a little worn down. 

He glares for a minute before giving in. “No. There have been no big changes. What can you tell me?”

“Well, every major pack on the east coast has decided to not to ally themselves with us.” Peter news is not surprising but he was hoping for the Smith pack. Laura and he had stayed with them in New York. “I talked to every old friend of your mothers and no one is willing to stick their necks out for us. They all want peace with us but no alliances.”

Derek felt sick. “Do you have any good news?”

“Actually, I have something that could be go or bad, depending on how it does. The Garcia pack contacted me today. They are sending the son of their Alpha, Mike, I believe, to come and confirm negotiations in two days. He should be here later today. If we can keep our agreements with them the same than we'll have a powerful ally as neighbors. Most packs will think about doing anything to piss of Alpha Garcia. She has a reputation as being fair but scary.” Peters voice gets a little distant. “I remember her from before the fire. She was a bit younger then your mother. She had the makings of a great Alpha.”

Derek feels a flash of pain at the mention of his mother. He misses her everyday. “Well, than we'll have to make sure they continue. Do you know what they'll ask?” He knows there is no way they'll continue to have a mutual defense pact with them without asking for something huge. 

“No idea. But they are a large pack. Maybe they will want more land. There is a large area that we border their territory that we don't patrol anymore.” He watches Peter glare at Erica. “We don't have the man power anymore.”

Derek wants to defend her but it's a lost cause. She comes up next to him and he gets a deep breath of their pregnant wolf and his body relaxes. “Why should we give anything to some other pack? It's ours.”

Derek doesn't even get to tell her why they need the alliance when Peter snaps. “The last time you made decisions for this pack Jackson was tortured and Derek nearly killed. I think you should keep your damn mouth shut.”

Erica growls out at Peter but his uncle moves into the blonde's face. “Little girl, I just spent the last six months hearing from packs that used to respect the Hales that we were laughingstocks because you are an idiot. Why the hell did you bite this one, Derek? I can at least I can say I was crazy when I bit Scott. When I was in more of a right mind I went after Lydia and Stiles. They would have been a value add.” Peter snaps and storms out of the room. 

Erica turns on him. “Are you going to let him talk to me like that?”

Derek just shrugs. Peter was right. He missed Stiles so much. He couldn't smell Stiles in his house anymore. “Yeah, I am. We are the laughingstocks of the west coast. We need to make smart decisions now. Peter is right. When we do the negotiations I want you to stay silent. Having a pregnant wolf is a great boon, it's a sign that we're going to grow and be strong. But not if she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. Did you even read any of the books I told you to read?” 

He didn't even have to ask. He knows she didn't. Stiles had made a list of books he read to gain insight into pack hierarchy and laws. Most packs had an Alpha and mate and some stronger Betas and then weaker Betas who were the caretakers and were kept safe by the stronger. It's what made a pack work was the give and take from the members. He had let it all fall apart when he had let Erica rise in standing without making her earn it. He had fucked his pack over again. 

He left Erica to whine by herself and went to his study to look up everything he could about the Garcia pack. He called Peter in and they went over a strategy. After a couple hours he can hear a car he doesn't recognize driving down their road. It has to be the Garcia pack member. He waits his the study and let's Peter go greet him. He gets a terrible and wonderful scent when the door is opened. It's Stiles. Stiles' body, his saliva and his cum. This wolf has been sleeping with his Stiles. He fights to control himself as he goes to greet the bastard. 

He sees him down the hall. He notices that the wolf looks like a darker version of him. They could be cousins. “Alpha Hale. It's good to see you again. I'm not sure if you remember but we met when we were younger. You came with your family to a party my grandmother had thrown for multiple packs in the area.”

The wolf is happy and has an easy manner that makes you want to relax and chat. Derek wants to punch him. “I only remember a bit of that. It was nice. It's nice to meet you too.”

He doesn't acknowledge that they all can hear the lie in his words. Mike just gives a sad smile. “Ah, well. I'm here to formally announce that we would like to meet for negotiations with your pack. Who will be doing the negotiations for your side?”

Derek wants to punch him again. “My uncle Peter will do that. And who will be negotiating for your pack?”

He watches a slight flush on the wolf. “My sister was going to be doing it, but my mother has decided to have an outsider be our negotiator.”

Derek is startled but pleased. And outsider was more likely to not know the deeper resources of each pack so would make mistakes. “Who is this outsider?”

Mike smiles a wicked smile. “You're ex mate. Stiles. He'll be negotiating for my pack. And he's only a technical outsider, we're hoping soon to fix that.”

Derek can feel the bottom of his stomach drop. He can't believe that. Stiles wouldn't help another pack so much. “He wouldn't do that.”

Peter moves to put a hand on his shoulder. “Now why would Stiles be helping your pack so intimately? Have you asked him to be your mate?”

No no no no. Derek's mind starts to slow and he wants to stop the wolf from saying anything. “Ahh, no. Sadly I have no yet. But we have a pregnant wolf in our pack temporarily. She'll be leaving to join an unstable pack in a few months and has asked Stiles to be the father and raise the child.”

Erica of course decides to break his rules. “He's an ungrateful whore. Leaving our pack and jumping into bed with the next wolf he can, he should have been grateful we let him be in our pack in the first place.”

Derek actually sees red and the only thing keeping him from throwing Erica through a wall is his growing pup inside her. Mike is making a face like he's trying not to laugh. “Ahh, you must be Erica. I've heard so much about you.”

Erica bristles at that. “From Stiles? Cause I think he's just jealous.”

Now Mike laughs. “Ahh, little girl, a man like Stiles doesn't have to be jealous of a person like you. No matter how many times you were getting knotted by your Alpha. A man like Stiles is bright, sexy and going to have a bright future. Aren't you currently between jobs? And boyfriends?”

Derek finally composes himself. “Enough. Erica go lay down. You're clearly tired.” He flashes his eye at her when she argues. Dumb bitch. He's had it with her attitude. Turning to Mike. “Please excuse my beta. She's a bit on edge lately.”

“Of course. I remember when my aunt was pregnant. She had the oddest cravings and wanted the pack to practically move into her house. It was a wonderful time for our pack. We all felt so close. It's those bonds that really matter the most when things are hard.” This wolf is an asshole. “So we will meet you at the diner on route 4, it's about halfway between our home bases, so to speak.”

Derek nods his head and Peter walks Mike out. Erica storms back in and starts yelling. But Derek doesn't want to hear it. Peter walks back in. “You had to bite this one, Nephew really? Wasn't there anyone else?”

Derek feels defeated. His mate is now actively working for another pack. And if he does raise the pup he'll never come back. “Why didn't Scott tell us Stiles was thinking about joining another pack?”

Peter looks thoughtful. “He probably didn't know. Stiles plays most of his moves close to his chest. You knew he was living with the daughter of Alpha Garcia. Now he's apparently sleeping with the son. It doesn't matter. If he's the one negotiating he'll either be very good or very bad for us. My suggestion: don't let Erica attend. She'll only piss him off.”

He moves into his study to think. He'll at least get to see Stiles again tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negotiations and some Derek bashing.

Stiles gets home and goes straight to his room to think. He has a some huge issues to get through. He decides to do when he is best at, compartmentalize them so he can deal one at a time with each issue. First, Jackson and Lydia. 

He gets Skype up and running and Lydia answers almost immediately. She must have been waiting for him.  
“Hello, Stiles. How are you doing?” He can see her ginger haired perfection on the screen. Jackson moving around in the background.

“That's what you're going with? What the hell Lyds?” He flails a bit. “When were you going to tell me you were leaving the pack?”

Lydia takes a deep breath. “Since you left.” 

“Ah, Lyds, is this about our friendship?” He's touched but it's painful for everyone involved when you leave a pack. 

“I love you Stiles, but don't flatter yourself. This is about what is best for me and Jackson. Since you left it has been worse for those of us that are human in the pack.” She takes a deep breath. “Since we've been here I've done more with the local pack than Derek has had us do in months. And that is all on Erica's feelings about humans.”

He always knew that Erica was a bit standoffish from the humans in the pack, him included. “Fine, but you can work with Derek on that.”

“He's a fucking leader and should notice it. Since he's too fucking stupid to I'm joining a pack that will actually value me.” Lydia snaps. “So what if he wasn't raised to be the Alpha. That's common sense. If the bitch your fucking makes your life harder, stop fucking her. It's simple math. I'm a value add and she's not. I know we were dicks to her when she was sick, but that was high school. It's basically Lord of the Flies with better cloths. She needs to grow the fuck up.”

Stiles feels something loosen in his stomach. He's wanted to bash on Erica for a long time. “I know. I'm not even sure it's on her anymore. I let Derek do it the first time when I should have stopped him. But that's beside the point. So you really want to join the Garcia pack?”

Jackson comes into view. “Yeah we do. Stiles, you were there when Derek followed her idea and not yours, and because of that I was almost killed, I was tortured and neither one of those assholes said they were sorry. It's too dangerous to be in the Hale pack if she's leading it and he keeps thinking with his dick.”

That is surprisingly smart from Jackson. Lydia moves closer. “Yes, we've thought about this a lot. We haven't been full members of the pack here and we still feel like more valued members than we have in a while with Derek. It's not entirely his fault but if we have kids I want them being raised in a stable pack that values both of the parents even if we're human.”

He can understand that. Hell, he has to ask. “Ok, sidebar, do you think I'd be a good dad?”

Jackson laughs. “Who did you get pregnant?”

Lydia looks thoughtful and then responses. “Of course, you practically raised Scott and he's almost housebroken. And let's be honest, you were the more mature one if yours and Derek's relationship. You have a steady income with good benefits. I'd say yes, you'd make a good dad. You were the pack mom.”

He blushes. “Well, I might be getting listed at the dad of a pregnant wolf in the Garcia pack.”

Lydia says. “What now?”

“Well, I've told you about Nicole. Well, she's kinda going a new pack, one that is unstable, she doesn't want to bring the child. She asked me to raise him or her.” He tries to say it without freaking out. He knows it sounds bad but for werewolf culture she's making her child will have a good life. Which isn't that bad. 

Lydia looks like someone smacked her. “Ok, so a pregnant werewolf wants you to adopt her child. And what did you tell her?”

“I told her I had to think about it. It's a huge deal.” But he really doesn't want to think about it too hard right now. “But back to you guys. I'll notify Derek and Alpha Garcia has already said she will welcome you guys when you are done with school and come back.”

“Thank you, Stiles. What do you think Derek will do when you tell him?” She sounds so much like the mean girl she was in high school that Stiles can't help but smile. 

“I think he's going to flip his shit. His pack is small. Too small now to really be of any use to the Garcia pack. It'll make negotiations easier.” Easier, it'll make it laughably easy to dictate terms. He takes a dark thrill out of knowing how bad Derek will feel. He can tell from the raised eye brow on Lydia that she knows exactly how he's feeling. “Ok so how are your classes?”

They talk about her classes and possible places they can live when they come back. He suggests some nice areas. They keep things light. Stiles reviews a couple things and starts to get ready for bed. Mike arrives with Sam and they make dinner and watch New Girl reruns. He knows they don't bring up Derek on purpose. He falls asleep with Mikes arms wrapped around him. 

The next day is hectic. Stiles works the first couple hours on his actual work. He doesn't want to upset his boss. He drives over to the pack house and picks up Nicole with Mike. He already has the list of things Alpha Garcia is willing to give up and what she wants in return. They drive to the meeting place. Stiles tries really hard and fails to keep calm. He can feel the sweat beading up on his forehead as they walk into the diner. Mike reaches over and gives him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. He smiles back as they get to the corner booth with Derek, Erica and Peter. Stiles can feel his heartbeat pounding in his chest and knows all the werewolves can too. 

“Alpha Hale. It's good to see you again.” Mike starts the conversation. “Stiles will be our negotiator. I'm here as a witness as is our temporary beta Nicole.” 

Derek nods his head at Nicole while keeping his eyes on Stiles. Stiles actually want to roll his eyes at the wolf. Now the fucker can't keep his eyes off him? Last time Erica had her fucking heat he literally ran away from sex with him. “Alpha Hale, greetings from Alpha Garcia. She is eager to continue relations with your pack.”

Sweet! His voice didn't crack. Peter motions for them to sit. “We should get to business. We don't want to tie up all of your time.”

“Thanks Peter. Now to start. I have to tell you that Jackson and Lydia have both asked Alpha Garcia for entrance into her pack and she has accepted.” Stiles decides to rip the band aid off quickly. “When they are done at MIT they will be moving into the Garcia territory.”

He watches with some selfish happiness that Derek looks gutted. Peter chimes in. “And does Alpha Garcia know that accepting two betas from our pack would be an unspoken insult?”

“She does, but they brought up some valid concerns about their continued safely within the Hale pack, and with how valuable they are, Alpha Garcia has accepted them with open arms. Lydia has been offered a teaching position at Berkeley and Jackson is a strong young beta.” He forces himself to look at Derek in the eye. “And they did bring some concerns with them about the leadership they were under.”

Derek looks down at the table and Erica actually huffs like she's annoyed. Stiles wants to reach across the table and slap her. Nicole beats him to annoying the bitch. “Are we boring you, beta?”

Stiles fights raising his hand for a fist bump from her. He turns to Erica. “If you are bored with the running of your own pack I'm sure you can leave. Since you don't seem to care that two of your pack mates are leaving you.”

Peter growls at Erica and she actually shuts up. “What concerns did they bring up?”

He knows Peter is only asking to piss of Derek. The two never really got over the whole killing Laura and then the killing Peter thing. “Well, first. Under your lack of knowledgeable tactics, Jackson was taken and tortured for hours. When there was easily a different, better plan that was discarded. Second, when Jackson was regained, through a plan that you and your chosen beta had nothing to do with, you did not show any remorse or seem to learn anything from it. A good leader can think on their feet and learn from their mistakes. You seem to not be able to, when a previous plan was agreed to and would have allowed the Hale pack to prosper, you discarded the plan instead for one thought up by this blondie and you were taken. You only survived because I called on the allies, which you have since lost, to help us. You have failed to learn from your mistake and again lead your pack into unnecessary danger and pain. Lydia and Jackson want to have children in a safe environment and that is clearly not something that is within the Hale Territory.”

He knows he's raised his voice. But the anger has slowly been building since he knew he would be dealing with Derek. The Alpha's eyes are burning red but shiny with tears. “Now, on to negotiations. The Garcia pack will continue to support the Hale back when it is in danger, as long as the danger is not so great that there is no hope of the Garcia pack surviving. But in return the Garcia Territory will extend to the old highway.”

Peter looks shocked. “Stiles, that's almost half of the Hale territory.”

“You're correct. But since the Hale pack has become so small it won't need the extra territory to patrol. Which they haven't been doing since there is no trace that any of your betas have patrolled it in over a month. That is sloppy and asking for omegas to take up residence in and endanger the locals. It will fall to the Garcia pack to take over that territory and keep it in order.” He lets that sink in for a while. “Now, we have hunters who we have made an alliance with, they want nothing to do with the Hale pack and will only come to help when we call them. Your pack will have no direct contact with them.”

Peter nods. He knows that he has no choice and Stiles feels like crap. He also feels a vindictive thrill at each flinch that Derek does. They hammer out tiny details while Derek just stares. When they have finalized almost everything Peter brings up the new Hale heir. “It is customary for an Alpha's heir to have a godparent from another pack. We give the first offer to the Garcia Pack.”

Stiles had been told what to do when this was offered. “We politely decline this honor. The Garcia pack will have enough to handle when my child comes along and there are two other pregnant wolves. Adding your heir to the mix with be a great deal more work.”

Peters face falls. It's a huge insult but he can't say anything about it. Derek speaks for the first time. “Your child?”

Stiles realizes what he said. “Yes, I'm going to raise Nicole's child. He or she will be mine.”

Nicole makes a happy noise and hugs him from his side. Mike is beaming at him. He's going to have to break it to Mike that he's not sure he can be a dad and a boyfriend at the same time. That is a while away so he won't think about it right now. 

They end the negotiations and walk about. He tries not to hear the sound of tears as the door closes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, sorry for the delay in updating this story. I have an endgame in sight. Hope you enjoy it.

Peter stood at the new border of his family's territory. The land Hales had been in charge of for generations and now belonged to the Garcia's. He wanted to hate them but he understood where they were coming from, large pack, a good number of betas and a barely functioning pack on your border. He would have done the same thing. No, the person he was starting to hate was Derek. Watching his nephew lose more and more of the pack was beginning to feel physically painful. He was overjoyed at idea of a new Hale but still hearing the excuse in his ears that the Garcia's did not want the honor of being a god parent only mean one of two things. Either they though the pack would do something stupid and did not want to be responsible for a newborn when the baby lost is parents, the duties only extended to the Garcia's saving the baby, not the pack. Or they assumed that the pack would do something stupid and the baby wouldn't survive. That type of loss would hurt anyone, knowing that your god child had died. So the better path was to not even bother. Peter turned and walked back to his car. He was going to have to make a plan to save his pack. He might be the villain in his nephews mind but they were going to have to have a talk and the Alpha was going to listen to him. Things were going to change. 

Driving back into town he stopped off at the Sheriff's station. Flirting shamelessly with the female deputy at the front counter he asks to see the Sheriff. Walking through the smaller office he was shown to the suspicious smelling man. “Ahh, Sheriff. Thank you for seeing me.”

The man narrows his eyes. Peter smiles in response. “What can I do to help you, Mr Hale?”

“I've recently been reevaluating some of my ideas on the power structure of my family and how it might be able to bring your family closer.” He says. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” The Sheriff crosses his arms and smells angry. 

“When your son was making most of the decisions for my nephew my pack was safe and capable. Now it's being run by Derek, who let's me honest, has rarely made any of the right decisions. He's so enamored about having a child he's not thinking about how to keep that child safe in a dangerous world.” He moves and sits on the couch. He can see that the Sheriff is thinking about what he said. “I just got some news about Stiles, turns out you're going to be a grandfather. Don't worry, he didn't get some poor girl pregnant, but he's going to be raising a young pup that his friend is giving him. I always knew the Stiles liked taking care of people but raising someone's child is a bit much. But he's an adult.”

He can smell the confusion on the man who flails in a very Stiles way and grabs for his cell phone. He can hear Stiles pick up “Hey Daddio, what's up?”

“You're going to raise someone's kid?” The Sheriff practically roars at the phone. 

“Ahh, what?” Stiles voice goes up a couple octaves. Peter smiles at the easy guile in the boys voice. “I swear I was going to tell you. But I really want to do this, I'm ready. Hey, who told you?”

The Sheriff sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “That's not important, Stiles. What's important is that you're going to be a dad.”

“I know that. I have a good job. I have money in the bank. I'm not a teen who's making a mistake. I've though this through a lot. I'm almost done with school and then I can take paternity leave for a while and work from home if I have to.” Peter is soothed a bit by Stiles' words. He was worried that the young man had only made the decision to piss off Derek. His next words make Peter want to growl. “I have the pack here to help out too. I'm doing this dad. Just think. You're going to be a grandpa.”

The man actually starts to smell like happiness at that. Who knew the Sheriff was such a softie? “We're going to talk about this a lot more. But I love you. You still coming to dinner this weekend?”

They finish saying their goodbyes and the man turns his eyes on the wolf. Peter for a second sees the same calculated look that Stiles would have before doing something insanely dangerous, like setting a feral wolf on fire. “So Mr. Hale, why are you here and why did you growl when Stiles mentioned the other pack?”

He settles himself “I want to help you convince Stiles to move home. He needs to stay in Beacon Hills.”

“Why?” The Sheriff smells suspicious now. 

“I always liked Stiles. Hell, I constantly think about what would have happened had I bitten him that night instead of Scott.” He shh's the Sheriff who looks like he wants to punch the wolf. “I was insane and I'm not anymore. I understand what I did was wrong in every sense of the word. But Stiles would make an amazing wolf. I always imagine that had he turned, he would have been the Alpha instead of my idiot nephew. He has a certain ruthless practicality that Scott lacks. I know you don't want to hear this but I fear that my family name will not last another generation without Stiles here to lead.”

“You want me to have my son come back and lead your pack with Derek after what that ass did to my son?” He can smell fury now. 

“Absolutely not, I want Stiles to come back and lead his own pack.” He tells the man easily. “My nephew is an idiot and going to get what's left of his pack killed.”

“His pack? I though you were in the pack too, Hale?” He loves the Sheriff's mind. 

“If your son comes back, I would call him my alpha.” He says. Knowing he is telling the complete truth. “We had a meeting with the Garcia pack, with your charming son leading the negotiations. He made my nephew give away almost half of the Hale territory. A territory that my family has been leading, protecting, for generations and I can't even argue with it, my nephew can't keep enough betas to lead this territory. Stiles could. With a couple betas and his planning skills he could hold this territory.”

“Why did you growl when Stiles mentioned the other pack?” The man won't let it go.

“I hate admitting this, but werewolves are a little territorial when it comes to resource management.” He sighs at the look of confusion on the mans face. “Unless Stiles officially joins the Garcia pack they'll slowly start to resent the child, and will not fully accept the child.”

He can understand the sudden anger on the Sheriff's face. “But Stiles is dating one of them and lives with two of them. Shouldn't they accept him and the child?”

“Well, you'd think they would, and some of them will, but the pack as a whole won't be able to accept them if they don't officially join. But if they do join the pack, which they could, Stiles won't be able to come back to Beacon Hills permanently. I don't want that and neither do you.” He gets up and starts pacing to burn off some nervous energy. He needs the Sheriff on his side to get Stiles back where he belongs. “If Stiles is back here then you'll be able to see your grandchild more and he does actually work in Beacon Hills. With his mind leading a new Hale pack this place will be safer.”

He can see the Sheriff is starting to agree with him. Nothing like the idea of getting to see your grandchild more often. He leaves the Sheriff with a promise to think about it. He heads home to start the next phase of his plan. He has so much to do and not a lot of time. He needs all of it ready when the child is born.


	13. Chapter 13

Derek felt like wallowing for a while. Peter had been gone for a couple days. Probably mourning the loss of half the territory. He didn't really care where his uncle was but Isaac and Boyd had been avoiding the pack house as well. He missed the smell of pack. The house only smelled like him and Erica, and while he loved the scent of pregnant wolf, he hated being alone. He couldn't get the sight of Stiles and the pregnant Nicole out of his head. His mate was going to raise another wolfs pup. He had always had the dream of Stiles and him raising pups together, adopting a couple or using a surrogate. He really loved the idea of having biological children. His inner wolf craved passing on his own blood. 

Looking over at Erica he shuddered at the prospect of having to deal with her now. Boyd had officially started dating a girl. Erica had demanded he make Boyd break up with the girl. Boyd had politely told her to shut the fuck up and then told Derek if he tried that, he would leave the pack. Derek had given his official blessing and just told him that he wanted to meet the girl sometime. 

He perked up when he heard Isaac's car came within earshot. He met the beta at the door. “Isaac. It's good to see you.”

He moved to scent mark the boy and could smell every member of his pack on the beta,, Peter included. He ignores the pang in his gut that the pack is spending time away from him and tries to just focus on Isaac. “Hey Derek. I'm sorry I’ve been away so much. Scott and Allison and I have been going on lots of dates lately. So I've been sleeping at their house.”

They talk in the kitchen. Derek listens to Isaac tell him about work and spending time with his mates. He takes a minute to feel proud of his beta. He has come a long way from the scared broken human he had offered the bite. He focus' again when the beta mentions Stiles. “John and Scott have begun trying to get Stiles to move home to raise his kid.”

He knows from the sudden shock on Isaac's face that his heart must have done something strange. “He's moving home?” He dares to start to hope.

Erica waddles into the room. “Why would we care about that traitor? He can stay gone. He was helping that pack humiliate us.”

Isaac doesn't even acknowledge her. “Yeah. Now that Stiles is going to be a dad, the Sheriff and Scott have been been going all out to get him to come back. Telling him about how much easier it would be to raise a baby werwolf with the help of Scott. Peter has even been building a new home for him to move into when he gets here.”

Peter's name shocks him again. So that is where his uncle has been. “Wait, Peter is building a house. Where?”

Isaac looks embarrassed for a minute. “Ah, the Sheriff helped him get a bunch of Hale lands that the county took control of after the fire. It was expensive but he says that it'll be good for a young cub to have a place to run around with the pack. It's almost done.”

“Like the pack would run with his kid.” Erica snorts. He doesn't even bother to growl at her. 

Derek starts to ache with the need to see Stiles. He turns as he hears an unfamiliar truck driving up the drive way. He notices that Isaac tenses. He moves to the window and sees a moving van. He opens the door just as his uncle climbs out of the rented vehicle holding a bunch of folded up boxes. “Ahh Derek. Nice to see you.”

“What is this, Peter?” He growls. 

“I'm moving. I assumed that you've heard that already.” He walks past Derek into the house and goes up stairs while Isaac looks guilty. 

He follows his uncle up to his room and watches as his uncle starts to build the boxes and fill them with random things from his room. “You can't leave. We're already fractured. We have to stay together as much as we can now.”

He can smell the anger coming off his uncle. “Derek, we aren't a pack anymore. Scott is gone. Isaac is almost gone. Boyd can't stand to be here. Lydia and Jackson have left. I love you but you seem to make every wrong choice you can. And I refuse to go down with you.”

Derek is shocked by his uncles words. More cause he doesn't lie when he said 'I love you'. He needs his uncle to stay. With only a couple betas his pack will be to vulnerable. “Peter, we can work this out. You don't have to leave.”

“Derek, do you remember when you were younger and your mother said that packs sometimes fail? This is that time. We've failed. You are the Alpha of this territory but we are not a full pack anymore. I'm going to help Stiles. He'll need it. And with the reduction in the pack lands you'll be able to keep everything in order. Less responsibilities will help you maintain everything.” Peter looks old for a minute. “It's time to make hard choices. I've made mine.”


End file.
